The SCA head highlighted the impact of Red Sea tensions on the maritime transport market, trade movement, and global supply chains
The Suez Canal registered a significant decline in revenues during the previous fiscal year, recording $7.2 billion in FY2023/2024, revealed Suez Canal Authority (SCA) head Osama Rabie, in comparison to a record-breaking $9.4 billion reported in FY2022/2023.
The Suez Canal has reported continued declines in revenues and traffic after several months of attacks on vessels on the Red Sea by Houthi rebels, leading several major shipping companies to redirect ships through South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.
The number of ships transiting through the canal in FY2023/2024 fell to 20,148, down from 25,911 the year before, according to Rabie on Thursday.
The SCA head highlighted the impact of Red Sea tensions on the maritime transport market, trade movement, and global supply chains.
Rabie stressed that this emphasizes the importance of the Suez Canal as a key trade gateway, as taking alternative routes increases the distance, duration and costs of shipping.
During the first 9 months of FY2023/2024, Suez Canal revenues dipped by 7.4% to $5.8 billion, compared to $6.2 billion, according to a central bank report. In the January – March 2024 period, the waterway’s revenues fell by 57.2% to register $959.3 million.
Despite the substantial drop in one of the country’s key sources of foreign currency and revenues, Egypt’s budget achieved an initial surplus of EGP 857 billion in the FY2023/2024, recording a whopping 422% increase compared to FY2022/2023’s EGP 164 billion. This data was released on Wednesday by the finance minister.
