Suez Canal records highest annual revenues in its history $5.84B during 2020/21.

CAIRO - 11 July 2021: Head of the Suez Canal Authority, Osama Rabie said, Sunday, that the navigation statistics during the first half of the Gregorian year 2021 recorded a remarkable increase in the number and tonnage of ships transiting the canal, as the canal’s navigation movement from January to June 2021 witnessed the crossing of 9763 ships compared to the transit of 9,546 ships during the same period of 2020, with an increase of 217 ships or 2.3 percent.

The net tonnage transiting the canal during the first half of 2021 increased by 3.8 percent, by 610.1 million tons during the first half of the current year, compared to 587.7 million tons during the same period of last year, with an increase of 22.4 million tons.

The head of the authority stressed that the revenues of the Suez Canal, despite the various challenges, witnessed a great boom recently, as navigation statistics during the fiscal year 2020/2021 recorded the highest annual revenue in the history of the canal amounting to $5.84 billion, compared to $5.72 billion during the 2019/2020 fiscal year, with an increase 2.2 percent, or $124.3 million.

The Canal’s revenues during the first half of 2021 achieved about $3 billion, compared to $2.76 billion during that period last year, with an increase of 8.6 percent or $237 million.

"The flexible marketing and pricing policies pursued by the authority succeeded in maintaining the transit rates of ships in the canal and gaining the confidence of customers, as the flexible policies contributed during the first half of 2021 to attracting 2519 ships, achieving revenues of $620.1 million,” the head of the authority added.

He noted that the incentives and discounts granted also played a prominent role in achieving a significant boom in the increase in transit rates of LNG ships, container ships, car carriers and dry bulk ships during the period from January to June 2021, as LNG carriers increased by 24 percent, and container ships increased by 9.7 percent.

While the number of car carriers increased during that period by 27.8% percent, and dry bulk vessels increased by 5 percent during that period, according to Rabie.

The head of the authority stressed that the Suez Canal bears in mind the continuation of the efforts made to maintain the leading position of the canal and the performance of its global role, praising the efforts of all employees of the authority during the last period to overcome various challenges.

He expressed his hope that the performance rates will witness unprecedented records by the end of the current calendar year in terms of the number of transiting ships, tonnage and revenues generated.