CAIRO, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Chairman Osama Rabie reported on Monday that the waterway has seen a significant performance boost since the start of the current fiscal year in July.
Since July 1, a total of 5,874 vessels have transited the Canal, generating 1.97 billion U.S. dollars in revenue. This marks a 17.5 percent increase compared to the same period last year, with net tonnage rising 14.4 percent to 247.2 million tonnes and the number of vessels up 5.2 percent.
Rabie shared these figures with an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission and noted that long-term projections indicate further recovery. He forecasted that revenues for the 2026/2027 fiscal year will reach 8 billion dollars, rising to 10 billion dollars in 2027/2028.
Last month, Rabie had said that the canal's revenues are expected to reach 4.2 billion dollars in 2025, up from 3.9 billion dollars in 2024. Both figures remain well below the record 10.2 billion dollars in 2023, a decline largely attributed to regional tensions.
Since December 2023, attacks by Yemen's Houthi group in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea forced many major shipping companies to reroute around the southern tip of Africa, bypassing the Suez Canal. However, the Houthis have ceased attacks on commercial vessels since the Gaza ceasefire in October. ■
