Suez Canal revenues jumped 20% to a record USD 7 bn in FY2021-2022, from USD 5.84 bn the previous year, Suez Canal Authority (SCA) head Osama Rabie said yesterday. The increase came on the back of a 16% rise in the number of ships transiting the canal to 22k, and a 11% jump in annual net tonnage to reach 1.32 bn tons. Revenues in 2021 rose 20% to USD 6.3 bn.

Thank the commodities crunch + war in Ukraine: Rabie said the global spike in oil prices and freight rates had combined with the Russia-Ukraine war to make transit through the canal more attractive than other routes — as he told us back in April. The canal registered its highest ever monthly revenues in May and June of this year, Rabie said. He also attributed the record income to successful marketing policies meant to draw in new ships. Traffic was bolstered during the fiscal year after the SCA extended a range of incentives and reductions introduced in 2020 to counter the global trade slowdown due to covid-19. Those cuts have since been rolled back for most ships.

More to come? The canal may witness an increase of some EGP 20-22 mn per month in revenues as traffic of liquefied natural gas tankers and bulk ships carrying grain increases in light of the war in Ukraine prompting alternative markets to increase exports, SCA head Osama Rabie told Enterprise earlier. LNG carriers began paying the full rate to transit in March.