Qatar is spending $500M a week to bring the World Cup "to the Arab world for the first time," according to Sergie & Kamel of BLOOMBERG. Its neighbors, the intended spectators, "are blocking supplies from cement to door handles that the country needs to pull off the feat." Construction "continues for now despite a blockade" that is "stranding trucks in Saudi Arabia" and cargo in ports in the UAE. Both countries, along with Bahrain and Egypt, "cut transportation links with Qatar, including roads across the peninsula’s only land border." Neil Davidson, senior analyst of ports and terminals at London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants Ltd., said that to restore reliable access to imports, "dedicated feeder services would have to be set up to and from Qatar, which may take time to effect." He added, "The cost of any alternative routing would undoubtedly be higher than the current setup." Qatar's dependence on UAE ports and logistics chains "is significant." The smaller nation accounted for almost 30% of the UAE's non-oil exports in the third quarter of '16 (BLOOMBERG, 6/9).
