Suez Canal revenues dipped 3% in 2020 to USD 5.61 bn compared to USD 5.8 bn in 2019, the Suez Canal Authority said in a statement yesterday. The canal recorded its second-highest annual net tonnage last year at 1.17 bn tonnes from over 18k ships crossing the canal.

Incentives and reductions the authority introduced last year to counter the global trade slowdown due to covid-19 will extend into 2021, Chairman Osama Rabie said. LNG, LPG, and oil carriers will receive reductions on their Suez Canal transit fees between 30-75%. Transit fees for all ships will be fixed in 2021 at the same price as the previous year as another initiative to spur movement across the canal. Rabie said that these marketing policies had helped to protect much of the canal’s shipping volumes and revenues during the pandemic.

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