Mamish: Fee discounts attract new shipping lines to Suez Canal

CAIRO – 12 April, 2017: The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) could attract new clients and maintain stable revenues, thanks to its flexible marketing policies of granting fee decreases for a number of shipping lines, Head of the SCA Mohab Mamish told the state-owned agency (MENA) on Wednesday.

SCA announced a 40 percent fee discount for bulk cargo ships moving from South Africa ports to Mediterranean ports, including those along the Black Sea to Ceuta Port, the SCA said on its official website.

“The discount, which came to meet the demands of our clients of ship-owners and operators, will continue for a trial period and end on December 31.The main target behind this procedure is to attract more ships,” the statement clarified.

Total revenues from the vital waterway declined 3.3 percent at the end of 2016, recording $5 billion versus $5.2 billion in 2015, according to the Cabinet-affiliated Egypt’s Information Portal.

“The declining number of vessels passing through the canal was caused by a drop in the volume of world trade,” Mamish said late March. Global trade growth plunged from 3.3 in 2015 percent to 1.3 percent in 2016 but is forecast to pick up to range between 2.1 percent and 4 percent by the end of 2017, according to the World Trade Organization’s latest analysis.

Revenues from the waterway dropped to $375.8 million last February, month-on-month, from $395.2 million in January, official data indicated at the end of March.