Suez Canal Revenue Climbs 13% — Because Hormuz Is Shut
EGYPT · TRADE
Key Facts
—The headline: Suez Canal revenue reached US$1.26 billion in the second quarter of 2026, up 13% on the first quarter’s US$1.12 billion. The figures come from Egypt’s statistics agency, CAPMAS.
—Traffic: Transits rose 7.7% on the previous quarter to 3,580 vessels. Net tonnage climbed 18.3% to about 169 million tonnes, from 142.9 million.
—Tankers led: Oil tankers accounted for 1,526 of those 3,580 transits. The pull is the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has forced crude and product cargoes onto longer routes.
—Month by month: June brought in US$446 million, ahead of May’s US$414 million and April’s US$419 million.
—Still far below par: Transits are running at roughly half pre-crisis levels and container traffic remains down by around four-fifths.
—Why it matters to Egypt: The canal is one of the country’s largest sources of foreign currency, alongside tourism, remittances and merchandise exports.
—Why it matters globally: Before the disruption the waterway carried roughly 12% of world seaborne trade, on the Egyptian government’s estimate.
Suez Canal revenue rose 13% to US$1.26 billion in the second quarter of 2026, but the reason is not the one Egypt would have chosen. Tankers are returning to the waterway because the Strait of Hormuz is shut, not because the Red Sea has become safe.
What the Suez Canal revenue figures show
Egypt’s statistics agency, CAPMAS, put second-quarter canal revenue at US$1.26 billion. That is 13% above the US$1.12 billion collected in the first three months of the year.
The monthly pattern points the same way. April brought in US$419 million, May US$414 million and June US$446 million.
Volumes rose alongside receipts, on figures from the Suez Canal Authority. Transits increased 7.7% on the previous quarter to 3,580 vessels, while net tonnage jumped 18.3% to about 169 million tonnes from 142.9 million.
Every one of those comparisons is against the first quarter of 2026, not against a year earlier. Read against 2025 the increases are larger still, which is a measure of how low the base had fallen.
The tankers are here because Hormuz is closed
Oil tankers made up 1,526 of the quarter’s 3,580 transits, the largest single category. The temptation is to read that as confidence returning to the Red Sea.
The more plausible explanation is elsewhere. The Strait of Hormuz has been closed since the conflict that began in late February, and crude and refined products that would have moved through the Gulf are now taking longer routes.
Some of those routes pass through Suez. Egypt has also cut tanker transit fees to compete for the traffic, which lifts volumes while trimming the revenue earned per ship.
That is a fragile basis for a recovery. A reopening of Hormuz would remove the very disruption currently pushing ships onto Egypt’s books.
Why this is not yet a recovery
The comparison that matters is not with last quarter but with 2023. Traffic collapsed after attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea pushed many operators to sail around southern Africa.
On that measure the canal is running at roughly half its pre-crisis transits and about half its pre-crisis revenue. Container traffic, the segment that pays best, remains down by around four-fifths.
Container lines move on a different clock from tanker owners. Once a network has been rebuilt around the Cape of Good Hope, switching back is a scheduling decision that takes months rather than days.
The Suez Canal Authority has leaned on commercial incentives, discounts and operational flexibility to coax operators back. Whether the second half improves depends on regional maritime security and freight economics, neither of which Cairo controls.
What it means for Egypt
Canal receipts are one of the four pillars of Egypt’s foreign-currency earnings, alongside tourism, workers’ remittances and merchandise exports. When one pillar weakens, the pressure lands on the pound.
Restoring even part of that income eases a constraint that has shaped Egyptian economic policy for three years. It also improves the arithmetic behind the country’s external financing needs.
Egypt has spent the period courting other sources of hard currency, including Gulf and Chinese capital and asset sales to foreign banks. Canal revenue is the one line that requires no counterparty and no negotiation, only ships.
The vulnerability is that this particular quarter’s improvement rests on somebody else’s crisis.
What it means for everyone else
Before the disruption the canal carried about 12% of world seaborne trade, on the Egyptian government’s estimate; UNCTAD has put the range at 12 to 15%. Its throughput is a live reading on how safe two chokepoints are judged to be at once.
For importers and exporters, a functioning Suez means shorter transit times and lower freight and insurance costs. For African economies dependent on European and Asian trade, it also means cheaper inputs.
The waterway sits at the junction of two contests, one over shipping security and one over who finances and controls the infrastructure of African trade. The Rio Times follows the second in Africa: The New Scramble.
The second-quarter number is best read as a signal rather than a verdict. Ships are using the route again, and not yet because they trust it.
Frequently asked questions
How much did the Suez Canal earn in the second quarter of 2026?
Suez Canal revenue was US$1.26 billion in the second quarter of 2026, a 13% increase on the US$1.12 billion recorded in the first quarter, according to CAPMAS. Monthly receipts rose through the quarter to US$446 million in June.
Is traffic through the Suez Canal back to normal?
No. Transits rose 7.7% on the previous quarter to 3,580 vessels and net tonnage climbed 18.3%, but volumes are running at roughly half pre-crisis levels and container traffic remains down by around four-fifths.
Why are oil tankers using the canal again?
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has rerouted crude and refined products onto longer voyages, and the Suez Canal is on several of those routes. Tankers accounted for 1,526 of the quarter’s 3,580 transits.
Why does the Suez Canal matter to Egypt’s economy?
It is one of Egypt’s largest earners of foreign currency, alongside tourism, workers’ remittances and merchandise exports. Before the disruption the canal handled about 12% of global seaborne trade, on the government’s estimate.
Connected Coverage
Egypt’s hunt for hard currency has drawn in outside capital elsewhere, from the moment Chinese investment in Egypt passed US$10 billion to the sale that saw HSBC exit Egyptian retail banking. More coverage of the region sits on our Northern Africa hub.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
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