CAIRO: The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) will implement its scheduled transit tariff increase starting April 2008, reported Reuters, quoting an official spokesperson from the SCA.
Transit fees will be raised by varying rates, ranging between 4.2 percent and 14.1 percent, averaging 7.1 percent, based on vessel and cargo type.
The increase in fees is expected to generate an additional $300 million, at least, with additional revenues accruing from the rise in trade-related traffic, said Beltone Financial.
Container vessels traffic constituted 51.6 percent of total traffic last year, stated the spokesman, adding that the completion of the deepening of the Canal to 66 feet, from the current 62 feet, will allow the passage of bigger vessels, with cargo exceeding 220,000 tons.
The SCA will continue to offer incentives to transiting vessels to encourage higher use of the waterway. Suez Canal revenues, representing Egypt’s third largest source of foreign currency, had reached $4.6 billion in 2007, up from $3.8 billion in 2006, on the back of higher non-oil traffic.
