Kharg loads again as Hormuz stays empty and Gulf shares rise
Kharg Island's western terminal resumed crude loading after 25 idle days, even as Hormuz traffic stayed thin. Most Gulf stock markets still advanced. Israel's economy grew at an annualised 15.4 per cent after the war quarter.
Economics & Markets··Midday
Kharg's western terminal loads again after 25 idle days
Iran reactivated the western oil terminal at Kharg Island on August 12 after a 25-day shutdown, according to maritime intelligence company Windward. Satellite imagery showed a very large crude carrier berthed and loading for the first time since July 18. Windward said the 333-metre tanker had been waiting offshore since July 11 and remained alongside, still loading, in imagery collected the following day. The same company said the eastern oil terminal and the liquefied petroleum gas facility stayed empty, while the offshore waiting area held 16 to 17 tankers. Iran is not waiting for the blockade to lift and is rerouting around it, Windward wrote on Sunday. TankerTrackers.com, which tracks crude shipments and dark-fleet tankers, separately said on Friday that a National Iranian Tanker Company very large crude carrier was loading about 2 million barrels of crude at the island's Azarpad jetty, and described it as the first loading observed there since late July. Crude exports from the terminal remain strong while gas shipments have fallen, the company said.[1]
A handful of ships pass Hormuz as Tadawul rises 0.9 per cent
Most Gulf stock markets advanced on Sunday. Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index rose 0.9 per cent to close at 10,920, with Al Rajhi Bank, the kingdom's largest lender by market value, up 1.5 per cent and Saudi Aramco up 1 per cent. The gains came despite a lack of progress in efforts to end the Iran conflict and continuing disruption to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices stayed elevated and supported energy-exporting Gulf economies: Brent crude futures settled at 88.52 dollars a barrel on Friday, up 1.45 dollars, or 1.67 per cent. Traffic through Hormuz fell sharply after the war broke out on February 28, and only a handful of vessels passed through the strait on Friday amid renewed attacks in the region and tension between Washington and Tehran. There was no diplomatic breakthrough either: Iran called on the United States on Saturday to concede defeat, while President Donald Trump described Tehran as very evil and warned that fuel prices could remain high amid the war. In Saudi Arabia, shares in Tihama Advertising, Public Relations and Marketing surged 7.3 per cent.[2]
Israel's economy exits the war quarter at 15.4 per cent
Israel's economy grew at an annualised 15.4 per cent in the second quarter, according to Central Bureau of Statistics data published on Sunday. In quarterly terms growth was 3.6 per cent, after a contraction of 2.2 per cent in the first quarter, which the war with Iran had hit. Economists had expected about 10 per cent. Business output rose an annualised 16.6 per cent, or 3.9 per cent in quarterly terms. Government spending on public consumption rose 19.5 per cent, 4.6 per cent quarterly, running above the averages, while private consumption rose 14.7 per cent, or 3.5 per cent quarterly. Exports of goods and services excluding startups and diamonds jumped 25.2 per cent, and imports excluding defence imports rose 22.7 per cent. The statistics office said the sharp second-quarter increase reflected large rises in private consumption, public consumption and exports of goods and services, and that those increases followed large declines in the first quarter.[3]
