The navigation traffic data for November 2015 issued by the Suez Canal Authority revealed a decline in revenues for the third consecutive month since the inauguration of the New Suez Canal on 6 August.
Revenues during November recorded $408.4m, compared to $448.8m and $449.2m during the months of September and October respectively. Revenues also fell at the rate of 7.7% when compared to November 2014, which witnessed revenues of $442.8m.
A total of 1,401 ships crossed the canal in November, with a total of 80.292m tonnes of cargo, compared to 1,458 ships with a total of 80.961m tonnes during the same month in 2014.
In addition to the impact of declining numbers and size of ships on the revenue, the financial method adopted for the estimation of revenue also significantly contributed to the declining revenues, given the decline in currency prices adopted in the calculation of revenue against the dollar.
The canal’s revenues are calculated according to what is known as the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) adopted by the World Bank. The SDR measures the averages of four currencies under one umbrella: the dollar, yen, euro, and sterling pound.
In November, the value of the SDR unit recorded 1.3826 against the dollar, compared to 1.4671 during the same month in 2014.
SThe uez Canal relies on this mechanism to hedge against any dramatic depreciation of currencies, whereby the SDR mechanism can cope with currency devaluations.
