Suez Revenue Down $650 Million

 Cairo: A report issued by the Ministry of Economic Development on the lack of income generated by the Suez Canal has revealed that the revenues of the Canal dropped by $650 million in the past 3 months due to the world economic crisis that has caused international traffic to shrink in the first quarter of this year.

The report estimated the value of the lost income at about $1.76 billion compared to actual revenues that did not exceed $1.1 billion. The report pointed to the decrease in the number of vessels passing through the canal in the first quarter to 4428 vessels compared with 5919 vessels during the same period in the previous fiscal year, a change of 22.6%. The tonnage of vessels transiting the Suez Canal has significantly declined during the month of November, down 16.3% from the same month last year, when shiploads amounted to $61 million and 613 thousand tons compared to $73 million and 599 thousand tons last year. Statistics recorded a decline in the number of vessels crossing the Suez Canal by 19.9% during November of this year compared to the same month last year, when it recorded 1418 vessels compared to 1770 vessels during the same month of last year.

The report noted that the total container tonnage was $32 million and 31 thousand tons compared to $37 million and 703 thousands tons in November of last year, down by 15%. There was also a significant decrease in the value and tonnage of oil tankers, down 29.5% and 34.8% respectively this November compared with the same month last year. A total of 263 oil tankers passed through the canal compared to 373 tankers last year. The report noted that there was a significant increase, up 130%, in the number of natural gas tankers crossing the Suez Canal as last years total of 26 tankers increased to 60 tankers in November.

**reporting by Mohamed Abdel Salam