Iraq plans to boost its oil export capacity from its southern ports beginning in 2023 to add 1 million to 1.5 million barrels a day by 2025, Bloomberg reported. Iraq will undertake a project to rehabilitate the Khor Al Amaya port and marine pipelines, said Mohammed Saadoon, Iraq's delegate to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, according to the report. Export capacity at the port is expected to jump by 150,000 to 200,000 barrels a day starting next year. In October, the Middle Eastern nation shipped 3.293 million barrels daily from its southern ports, the report said. Saadoon added that the oil ministry also plans to ramp up oil production to between 5 million and 5.5 million barrels a day by 2028.
Ghana recently announced a new policy that will restrict imports of rice, poultry, vegetable oils, pasta and other food items, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in a recent report. Under the new policy, the Bank of Ghana no longer will offer foreign exchange support for the import of those food goods and other items it classifies as “non-critical” or “non-essential,” the report said. The effort is aimed at helping the country’s economy, USDA said, adding that Ghana’s “ability to service its loans and pay government obligations is under severe pressure.” The measure comes after U.S. poultry meat and product exports to Ghana reached a record high of $92.6 million in calendar year 2021.
South Africa recently began a sunset review of antidumping duties on “frozen bone-in portions of poultry” from the U.S., USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said Nov. 16. The South African Poultry Association told the country’s International Trade Administration Commission that expiration of AD on the poultry imports, scheduled for Nov. 23, “would likely lead to the continuation or recurrent of dumping or material injury.” South Africa said the application submitted by the association “has enough prima facie evidence to trigger a sunset review investigation” for the period of Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 31, 2021. USDA said U.S. bone-in chicken shipments to South Africa have been subject to AD since 2000.
Iran imposed reciprocal sanctions on the U.S., the EU, the U.K. and Canada for their restrictions on Iran in the wake of the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini and the subsequent violent crackdowns on the protests, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced, according to an unofficial translation. Sanctioned parties are subject to an asset freeze and travel ban. The sanctions on the U.S. include Michael Kurilla, commander, U.S. Central Command; Gregory Guillot, deputy commander, U.S. Central Command; Army Col. Scott Desormeaux, based in Erbil, Iraq; Brian Nelson, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence; the C.I.A.; the 9th Air Force of the U.S. Army; and the U.S. National Guard. The lists for the sanctioned British, European and Canadian parties were also released.
Kenya recently lifted a decade-old ban on imports of genetically modified organisms and related products, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported this month. The change will allow traders to import “cheaper food supplies and animal feed engineered through biotechnology,” the report said.
Ethiopia recently banned imports of 38 nonessential items, including furniture, perfumes, cosmetics, artificial jewelry and watches, the Hong Kong Trade and Development Council reported Oct 26. The ban is intended to “restrict the use of foreign currency to pay for non‑essential imports,” HKTDC said, adding that Ethiopia has ordered commercial banks not to issue letters of credit for imports of the nonessential goods. Other items on the banned import list include soaps, bags, wallets, seafood, chocolate, alcohol, fruit juices and nonelectric vehicles.
South Africa’s state-owned port and rail authority Transnet said it reached a three-year wage deal this week with the labor union representing its workers, ending a strike that had frozen the country’s trade lanes. The announcement comes after two weeks of strikes that led to “severe” staff shortages and threatened to “cripple” South African agricultural trade, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report earlier this month. Transnet said its “priority” is clearing the backlogs across the country’s port and rail system. USDA said the labor dispute has caused “significant vessel lineup” and backlogs at the country’s major ports.
Oman will ban imports of plastic bags beginning Jan. 1, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Sept. 28. The measure will bar any company, institution or person from importing the plastic but will not prohibit domestic production of plastic bags. Violators will be fined $2,600 for their first offense and “double that amount on a repeat violation,” HKTDC said. The sultanate banned single‑use plastic shopping bags, beginning Jan. 1, 2021.
Egypt will increase transit fees along the Suez Canal beginning next year, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Sept. 27. Beginning Jan. 1, the state-run Suez Canal Authority will raise rates by 15% on “all types of vessels transiting the canal” and by 10% on “dry bulk and cruise ships.”
Uganda dropped a 5% export tax on refined gold, Moses Kaggwa, acting director at the Finance Ministry, said at a news conference, Bloomberg reported Sept. 1. The tax was cited as causing a dip in overseas shipments of the gold. The export levy was dropped in the revised Minerals and Mining Bill, which is awaiting presidential approval. Uganda imposed the tax, and a 10% tax on unprocessed gold, in July 2021 to increase the revenue collected from the key export, which last year became the country's top foreign exchange earner.