Suez Canal Revenues Fall
Suez Canal revenues fell 2.2% month-on-month in September 2017, according to official data. Revenues amounted to $459.8 million in September 2017, versus $470.6 million in August 2017, the data showed.
However, Suez Canal Authority (SCA)'s revenues raised by 3.4 per cent within the period from January-October 2017, increasing to $US4.3 billion up from $US4.2 billion in 2016, MANA correspondent reported.
The chairman of SCA and SCZone (Suez Canal Economic Zone) Mohab Mamish said that that the number of ships crossing the canal waterway increased by 2.9 per cent, to 14 462 ships from 14 053 ships in 2016, while the containers crossing the canal increased by 5.6 per cent, to 859 million US dollars up from $US813 million in 2016.
In a press release, Mamish added that that a record of 107 ships crossed the Suez Canal on Friday and Saturday laden with 7.7 million tons.
He said the south-bound convoy included 56 ships with a total cargo of 3.9 million tons, while the north-bound convoy consisted of 51 ships laden with 3.8 million tons. The chairman pointed out that 16 giant vessels transited the canal in the past two days with an estimated load of 150,000 to 220,000 tons.
Suez Canal is the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia and one of the government’s main sources of foreign currency.