Head of the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) Mohab Mamish said Thursday that the global trade movement passing through the Suez Canal is witnessing a significant increase in revenues, quantities of goods in transit and the number of ships and cargoes.
In August 2017, Suez Canal made a record revenues of $470.6 million (LE8.3 billion), compared to $447.6 million in August 2016, an increase of $23 million by 5.1%.
He pointed out that the shipping traffic in the canal recorded 1528 ships crossing in August 2017, compared to 1462 in August 2016, an increase of 66 vessels by 4.5%, with total tonnage of 91.5 million tons, compared to 87.8 million tons in August 2016, an increase of 3.7 million tons equivalent to 4.2%.
The Suez Canal is the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia and one of the Egyptian government’s main sources of foreign currency.
Egypt has been struggling to revive its economy since a 2011 uprising drove tourists and investors away. The country agreed to a three-year, $12 billion International Monetary Fund loan program last November that is tied to ambitious economic reforms such as subsidy cuts and tax hikes.
