عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

Saudi Arabia Records 77.66 Pts in UN Maritime Index

Islamic Port of Jeddah (SPA)
Islamic Port of Jeddah (SPA)
TT
20
TT

Saudi Arabia Records 77.66 Pts in UN Maritime Index

Islamic Port of Jeddah (SPA)
Islamic Port of Jeddah (SPA)

The Saudi maritime sector has recorded a significant uptick in the Q3 update of the UNCTAD’s Liner Shipping Connectivity Index (LSCI), scoring 77.66 points in comparison to 76.16 points a quarter earlier.

The Minister of Transport and Logistics Services and Chairman of the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani), Eng. Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, hailed the Kingdom’s Leadership for providing every support possible in fulfilling the nation’s ambitions of becoming a global logistics and economic powerhouse.

Commending Mawani’s crucial role in laying the groundwork for the latest success with the addition of 24 cargo services across 2023, Al-Jasser added that the achievement will further enhance Saudi Arabia’s competitiveness on the world scale, boost foreign trade volumes, unlock new economic possibilities, and attract world-class investments to the Kingdom’s shores.

A key milestone in the national maritime regulator’s efforts to cement the Kingdom’s standing on the global stage and advance its ranking in major international indices, the LSCI feat comes no sooner after Saudi Arabia grabbed the 38th position among 160 countries this year in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI) and the 16th spot in the 2023 edition of the Lloyd’s List 100 Ports for its annual throughput volumes.

The LSCI is an indicator that measures countries’ integration with global liner shipping networks on a quarterly basis.

Aimed at identifying challenges, discovering opportunities, and bettering performance on the logistics front, the index is composed of five components including the total number of shipping lines serving a country, largest vessel size (in TEUs), number of services connecting a country to other destinations, number of deployed vessels in a country, and total vessel capacity (in TEUs).

Most Viewed

 
Business

Oil Extends Climb on Supply Fears, Trade War Concerns Cap Gains

FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
TT
20
TT

Oil Extends Climb on Supply Fears, Trade War Concerns Cap Gains

FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

Oil prices inched higher on Tuesday after threats by US President Donald Trump to impose secondary tariffs on Russian crude and attack Iran, though worries about the impact of a trade war on global growth capped gains.

Brent futures rose 21 cents, or 0.3%, to $74.98 a barrel at 0645 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed 22 cents, or 0.3%, to $71.70.

The contracts settled at five-week highs a day earlier.

"Near-term risks are skewed to the upside, with US threats of secondary tariffs on Russian and Iranian oil leading market participants to price for the risks of tighter oil supplies," said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG, Reuters reported.

However, broader themes still revolve around concerns of upcoming tariffs weighing on global demand, along with prospects of increased supply from OPEC+ and the US, said Yeap.

A Reuters poll of 49 economists and analysts in March projected that oil prices would remain under pressure this year from US tariffs and economic slowdowns in India and China, while OPEC+ increases supply.

Slower global growth would dent fuel demand, which might offset any reduction in supply due to Trump's threats.

After news of Trump's threats initially boosted prices on Monday, traders told Reuters they viewed the president's warnings to Russia, at least, as a bluff.

Trump, on Sunday, told NBC News that he was very angry with Russian President Vladimir Putin and would impose secondary tariffs of 25% to 50% on Russian oil buyers if Moscow tries to block efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

Tariffs on buyers of oil from Russia, the world's second largest oil exporter, would disrupt global supply and hurt Moscow's biggest customers, China and India.

Trump also threatened Iran with similar tariffs and bombings if Tehran did not reach an agreement with the White House over its nuclear program.

"For now, it appears to be just a threat to Russia and Iran. However, if it becomes a reality, it creates plenty of upside risk to the market given the significant oil export volumes from both countries," said ING commodities strategists on Tuesday.

The market will be watching for weekly inventory data from US industry group the American Petroleum Institute later on Tuesday, ahead of official statistics from the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.

Five analysts surveyed by Reuters estimated on average that US crude inventories fell by about 2.1 million barrels in the week to March 28.