Pre-Trading Thoughts

Egypt's net international reserves rose to USD46.4 billion at the end of June, surpassing the previous record high of USD46.1 billion posted a month earlier.Non-oil trade deficit declined by 22.9% during 1Q24 to record about USD6.4 billion.The African Development Bank estimates Phase 3 of the water waste treatment plant in Al-Jabal Al-Asfar at about EUR510 million that will be financed by the bank, the French Development Agency, and the European Commission.Egypt is looking to attract new Turkish investments worth USD1 billion within 18 months in various sectors, including clothing, and home and electrical appliances.The World Bank’s International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) last week dismissed claims brought against the Egyptian government by UAE-based CTIP Oil & Gas Investment Limited. The Emirati firm was looking to receive an EGP3 billion — equivalent to USD62.4 million at current exchange rates– settlement from the government to make up for alleged damages filed by the company. Arrears owed by the Electricity Ministry to various government sectors rose to EGP114 billion at the end of May, up from around EGP100 billion in 1Q24.Some 379.8 million shares of SWDY's (FV: EGP44.88, EW) shareholders, representing 17.5% of the company's total shares, responded to Electra's share purchase offer. A consortium of Egyptian and Chinese companies, that includes Arab Contactors and ORAS, will soon start work on the third phase of the electric light rail transit (LRT) project, with a total investment of USD550 million.The Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has backed out of the race to acquire Central Bank of Egypt-owned lender United Bank after the two parties failed to agree on a valuation for the bank. Fertilizer companies are looking to defer loan payments amid production cuts triggered by repeated halts in production due to unstable natural gas supplies amid nationwide shortages.Weekly Commodities Update |   | Last Price | WoW Change, % | Brent, USD/bbl | 86.5 | 0.2% | Diesel-HSFO Spread, USD/ton | 299 | -4.4% | Egypt Urea, USD/ton | 338 | 0.0% | Polyethylene, USD/ton | 1,050 | 0.0% | Polypropylene, USD/ton | 995 | 0.0% | Iron Ore 65%, USD/ton | 130 | 2.5% | Steel/Iron Ore Spreads, USD/ton | 385 | -1.0% | LME Copper Cash Price, USD/ton | 9,795 | 3.6% | LME Aluminum Cash Price, USD/ton | 2,478 | -0.4% | Egyptia Retail Cement, EGP/ton | 2,114 | 1.9% | Steam Coal FOB Newcastle Australia, USD/ton | 136 | 1.7% | SMP, USD/MT | 2,586 | -6.5% | Last price may vary week over week in some indices due to time difference