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Home > Business/Finance > Diversified Services > Shipping & Logistics
Kuwait Freight Transport Report Q1 2008
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Big investments continue to be planned in Kuwait’s aviation and airfreight sector. Apart from the
introduction of an ‘open skies’ agreement with the US and plans to expand the airport, locally-based
airlines are renewing and expanding their fleets. Kuwait Airways’ plan to buy 12 Boeing and seven
Airbus planes from Kuwait's Aviation Lease and Finance Co. (ALAFCO) for about US$3bn, had to be
aborted in September 2007 after political squabbling. However there are signs that the refleeing
programme will be put back on track, with reports that after management changes at the state-owned
airline the government was discussing US$4bn worth of purchases from Boeing and Airbus. Meanwhile,
Kuwait-based budget airline Jazeera Airways said it was likely to exercise an option to buy six
additional Airbus A320s. There was a possibility that Jazeera might also buy the ALAFCO planes
originally intended for Kuwait Airways. As capacity grows, so will Kuwait’s contribution to regional
airfreight traffic. In our latest Kuwait Freight Transport Report, BMI concludes that airfreight traffic is
likely to grow at an annual average rate of 6.6% in the 2007-2011 forecast period.
Various factors support this prediction. Although the recent oil price boom will ease over the next couple
of years, we still see Kuwaiti GDP rising by an annual average of 5.3% over the next five years. Growing
capacity, and growing trade in high-value/low-bulk goods will all contribute to airfreight growth. Kuwait
is a relatively small country and its trading sector - and therefore transport network - has a vibrant reexport
component. Kuwait has evolved as a trade hub for its larger neighbours, particularly Iran and Iraq,
which have had limitations on their direct links with the international community.
BMI also forecasts 3.0% average annual growth for road haulage and 6.2% for maritime cargo in the five
years to 2011. We estimate annual average pipeline throughput growth of 7.1%. We expect that the bulk
of transport will continue to be waterborne and consist largely of oil and related goods. Transit trade,
particularly that involving Iraq, will comprise raw materials involved in that country’s eventual rebuilding
(aggregates, basic metals and the like) and machinery related to building and construction work.
Kuwait’s overall business environment rating is now just above the average for the Middle East and
Africa (MEA) region. It scores well in terms of its economic risk and its record of investment in
infrastructure. However, it is below the average for freight growth, the regulatory environment and for the
transport intensity index (a measure of the dynamism of foreign trade).
For the 2007-2011 forecast period, we expect the transport and communications sector to continue
outpacing the economy as a whole. It will achieve average annual growth of 6.6%, versus 5.3% for
overall GDP. The total value of transport and communications GDP will rise to US$5.64bn in nominal
terms by 2011, representing 5.2% of Kuwait’s GDP.
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