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Egypt Signs 30-year Concession Agreement with AD Ports to Operate Safaga Port

Egypt’s minister of transport and the ambassador of the UAE witness the signing of agreements in maritime transport on Saturday in Cairo. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Egypt’s minister of transport and the ambassador of the UAE witness the signing of agreements in maritime transport on Saturday in Cairo. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Egypt Signs 30-year Concession Agreement with AD Ports to Operate Safaga Port

Egypt’s minister of transport and the ambassador of the UAE witness the signing of agreements in maritime transport on Saturday in Cairo. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Egypt’s minister of transport and the ambassador of the UAE witness the signing of agreements in maritime transport on Saturday in Cairo. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Egypt's transport ministry signed on Saturday several agreements in maritime transport with AD Ports Group to manage, operate, and maintain the port of Safaga, and to allow for expanded access to multipurpose terminals and cruise routes in Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh.

AD Ports Group signed a 30-year concession agreement worth $200 million to develop and operate Egypt's Safaga port, according to a statement released by AD Ports on Saturday.

Two additional agreements and four head terms concerning ports located in Egypt's Red Sea region and the Mediterranean Sea were also signed, the statement said.

"AD Ports Group will invest a total of up to $200 million in superstructure and equipment, buildings, and other real estate facilities and utilities’ network inside the concession area," the statement added.

Furthermore, two 15-year agreements for the development of two cement terminals in Al Arish Port and West Port Said Port were signed between AD Ports Group and the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone requiring a combined investment of around $33 million.

AD Ports Group will construct silos with a storage capacity of up to 60,000 tons in Al Arish Port and 30,000 tons in West Port Said.

Each terminal will be able to handle 1-1.5 million tons annually.

Both terminals, which will be operational in Q4 2023, are expected to contribute to doubling Egypt's cement exports to global markets.

Egyptian Minister of Transport of Egypt Kamel al-Wazir affirmed that this contract is the beginning of a huge cooperation plan between the ministry and AD Ports Group to carry out several projects in logistics services in Egypt.

The multipurpose terminal in Safaga Port will be developed over an approximate area of 810,000 square meters and it will boast a quay wall of up to 1,000 meters.

The agreements were signed in Cairo in the presence of Lieutenant-General Kamel al-Wazir and Mariam Al Kaabi, Ambassador of the UAE to Egypt.

Capt. Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Managing Director and Group CEO, AD Ports Group, and Major General Osama Saleh, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Red Sea Port Authority, signed the agreement.

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Business

Gold Heads for First Weekly Rise in Five on Easing Fed Rate-Hike Bets

A salesman arranges gold bangles inside a jewellery showroom on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, a major gold buying festival, in Mumbai, India, May 7, 2019. (Reuters)
A salesman arranges gold bangles inside a jewellery showroom on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, a major gold buying festival, in Mumbai, India, May 7, 2019. (Reuters)
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Gold Heads for First Weekly Rise in Five on Easing Fed Rate-Hike Bets

A salesman arranges gold bangles inside a jewellery showroom on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, a major gold buying festival, in Mumbai, India, May 7, 2019. (Reuters)
A salesman arranges gold bangles inside a jewellery showroom on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, a major gold buying festival, in Mumbai, India, May 7, 2019. (Reuters)

Gold rose 1% on Friday and was set for its first weekly gain in five, as investors dialed back expectations for US rate hikes following softer-than-expected jobs data.

Spot gold was up 1% at $4,165.29 per ounce, as of 0612 GMT, after earlier hitting its highest level since June 23. US gold futures for August delivery gained ‌1.3% to $4,178.50.

Bullion ‌was on track for a weekly gain ‌of ⁠1.8%, its first since ⁠the week ended May 29, as weaker-than-expected nonfarm payrolls and private payrolls data tempered concerns around inflation and higher-for-longer interest rates.

The dollar was headed for a weekly drop, making greenback-priced bullion more affordable for holders of other currencies.

"What we're seeing is a reduction in the pricing of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes ⁠for the rest of this year, as ‌well as Q1 next year, and ‌that has been primarily driven by a rather lackluster labor market data ‌yesterday," said Kelvin Wong, a senior market analyst at OANDA.

Nonfarm ‌payrolls increased by 57,000 jobs last month, sharply lower than the 110,000 expected by economists in a Reuters poll.

Traders are now pricing in roughly a 54% chance of a rate hike in September, down ‌from 66% before the data, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Higher interest rates typically weigh ⁠on non-yielding ⁠gold, as they make interest-bearing assets more attractive.

Rate-hike expectations have not fully disappeared, said Wong, adding that gold could still face pressure later this year, with prices potentially falling towards $3,500 an ounce.

Meanwhile, the World Gold Council said central banks were back in buying mode in May and, based on the latest reported data, official gold reserves increased by a net 41 tons during the month.

Spot silver rose 2.1% to $62.28 per ounce, platinum gained 2.4% to $1,655.15, and palladium climbed 0.9% to $1,278.89. All three metals were near their highest levels in more than a week and headed for weekly gains.

Business

ECB's Lagarde Says She Can't Rule Out Early Departure

President of European Central Bank Christine Lagarde addresses the media during a press conference after an ECB's governing council meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
President of European Central Bank Christine Lagarde addresses the media during a press conference after an ECB's governing council meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
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ECB's Lagarde Says She Can't Rule Out Early Departure

President of European Central Bank Christine Lagarde addresses the media during a press conference after an ECB's governing council meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
President of European Central Bank Christine Lagarde addresses the media during a press conference after an ECB's governing council meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

European ‌Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said it was still possible she could leave before her term ends in late 2027 to weigh in on French politics in the run up to next year's presidential election, Reuters said.

Responding to a question from French newspaper Les Échos whether she would rule out leaving early, perhaps ‌to take ‌part in the French political ‌debate, ⁠she said: "It's possible. I believe ⁠that a European voice needs to be heard in the French presidential debate."

Lagarde has previously played down resignation rumors, saying a ship's captain would not leave during turbulent times, as inflation ⁠surged on an oil-price spike ‌triggered by the ‌Iran war. She said then that her baseline ‌was to remain in the job until ‌her term expires at the end of October 2027.

While she did not repeat this line, she appeared to rule out running ‌in the French election next spring, saying this was not on ⁠the ⁠agenda.

"I would speak with a French and a European voice, because I am profoundly both," Lagarde said on her possible role in the election.

"I would tell them that France must play a decisive role in the economic future of our continent. And that without this European environment and anchoring, our economic prospects would, at the very least, be unclear," she said.

Business

Turkish June Monthly Inflation at 0.99%, Matches Forecast

Workers deliver water bottles to a restaurant next to Galata bridge on a summer day in Istanbul, Türkiye, June 26, 2026. (AP)
Workers deliver water bottles to a restaurant next to Galata bridge on a summer day in Istanbul, Türkiye, June 26, 2026. (AP)
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Turkish June Monthly Inflation at 0.99%, Matches Forecast

Workers deliver water bottles to a restaurant next to Galata bridge on a summer day in Istanbul, Türkiye, June 26, 2026. (AP)
Workers deliver water bottles to a restaurant next to Galata bridge on a summer day in Istanbul, Türkiye, June 26, 2026. (AP)

Turkish consumer price inflation stood at 0.99% month-on-month in June, while the annual figure was 32.11%, data ‌from the ‌Turkish Statistical Institute ‌showed ⁠on Friday.

In a ⁠Reuters poll, monthly inflation was forecast to be 0.99%, ⁠with the annual ‌rate ‌seen at ‌32.1%, as ‌continued uncertainty around the Iran war drives expectations of ‌a slower-than-anticipated disinflation trend.

The data also ⁠showed ⁠the domestic producer index rose 1.80% month-on-month in June for an annual increase of 28.09%.

Türkiye's exports totaled $24.94 billion in June, while imports reached $35.3 billion, ‌leaving ‌a foreign trade ‌deficit ⁠of $10.38 billion, Trade ⁠Minister Omer Bolat said on Friday. 

Bolat ⁠said exports ‌in ‌the first ‌six ‌months of the year rose 3.6% ‌from a year earlier to $136.06 ⁠billion, ⁠while imports increased 4.6% to $189.15 billion.