Egyptian Exports Grow to $54 Bln

Trucks and containers at Egypt’s Alexandria Port (Reuters)
Trucks and containers at Egypt’s Alexandria Port (Reuters)
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Egyptian Exports Grow to $54 Bln

Trucks and containers at Egypt’s Alexandria Port (Reuters)
Trucks and containers at Egypt’s Alexandria Port (Reuters)

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Wednesday initial figures show that Egyptian exports reached $53.8 billion in 2022, an increase of 20 percent from last year.

For his part, Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmed Samir stated that despite the challenging global circumstances, the non-petroleum exports of Egypt registered a record total of $35.612 billion, a 12 percent increase compared to last year.

Egypt's Petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla said that 2022 witnessed record petroleum exports of $18.2 billion. In 2021, $12.9 billion-worth exports were made compared to $7 billion in 2020.

He further noted that a quantum leap was achieved in gas exports in 2022.

The cabinet approved the initiative aimed to support the industrial and agricultural projects in the country in its weekly meeting in Cairo on Wednesday.

The government will allocate 150 billion Egyptian pounds to the five-year initiative including nearly 140 billion pounds to finance capital money and 10 billion pounds to finance the purchase of capital goods.

The amount of credit available to each company will be determined by the volume of its business and the banking rules, provided that the maximum credit limit allowed for each company does not exceed the amount of 75 million pounds.

The initiative also stipulates that each company has transactions with a maximum of two banks from those participating in the initiative.



Oil Prices Rise as Concerns Grow over Supply Disruptions

Oil Prices Rise as Concerns Grow over Supply Disruptions
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Oil Prices Rise as Concerns Grow over Supply Disruptions

Oil Prices Rise as Concerns Grow over Supply Disruptions

Oil prices climbed on Tuesday reversing earlier declines, as fears of tighter Russian and Iranian supply due to escalating Western sanctions lent support.

Brent futures were up 61 cents, or 0.80%, to $76.91 a barrel at 1119 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed 46 cents, or 0.63%, to $74.02.

It seems market participants have started to price in some small supply disruption risks on Iranian crude exports to China, said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

In China, Shandong Port Group issued a notice on Monday banning US sanctioned oil vessels from its network of ports, according to three traders, potentially restricting blacklisted vessels from major energy terminals on China's east coast.

Shandong Port Group oversees major ports on China's east coast, including Qingdao, Rizhao and Yantai, which are major terminals for importing sanctioned oil.

Meanwhile, cold weather in the US and Europe has boosted heating oil demand, providing further support for prices.

However, oil price gains were capped by global economic data.

Euro zone inflation

accelerated

in December, an unwelcome but anticipated blip that is unlikely to derail further interest rate cuts from the European Central Bank.

"Higher inflation in Germany raised suggestions that the ECB may not be able to cut rates as fast as hoped across the Eurozone, while US manufactured good orders fell in November," Ashley Kelty, an analyst at Panmure Liberum said.

Technical indicators for oil futures are now in overbought territory, and sellers are keen to step in once again to take advantage of the strength, tempering additional price advances, said Harry Tchilinguirian, head of research at Onyx Capital Group.

Market participants are waiting for more data this week, such as the US December non-farm payrolls report on Friday, for clues on US interest rate policy and the oil demand outlook.