Suez Canal growth boosts logistics industry in Egypt

Billions of tons of goods transited through the Suez Canal in the 2022-23 fiscal year, bringing in annual revenues of $9.4 billion, the largest in its history, the cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC) announced last week, marking the eighth anniversary of the inauguration of the second branch of the famous international waterway.

The New Suez Canal, completed after only one year’s work in 2015, was built with the aim of accelerating traffic through the canal and avoiding queues at narrow points in the passageway.  

Mohamed Ali Ibrahim, an expert in transportation economics and logistics, attributed the record revenues and numbers of ships transiting through the Suez Canal to several factors.

The first is rising oil prices, which have driven up transportation and shipping costs, especially for large container ships, leading them to opt for shorter routes such as the Suez Canal.

The second is the new pricing and incentives policy that the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) introduced last year, enhancing the competitiveness of the canal compared to other maritime routes.

Thirdly, the expansion and deepening of the canal bed has made it possible to accommodate the mega-container ships that had previously been unable to pass through it.