CAIRO: Suez Canal revenues declined in the month of June by nearly $11.3 million compared to the previous month of May, where its revenues amounted to $395 million, as stated by Admiral Ahmed Ali Fadel, head of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), regarding the reported revenues for June. An official source at the Suez Canal Authority said on Wednesday that canal revenues rose nearly 10 percent in June compared to the same month the previous year, coming in at a reported $383.7 million for the month, compared to 348 million dollars in June 2009. The canal has been an important part of Egypt's overall GDP and during the past few years of the global economic crisis and the threat of piracy in the Gulf of Aden, the Suez Canal has seen a drop-off in shipping companies using the waterway to pass ships and cargo through due to the costs. The SCA is confident that the worst is behind and the canal should return to its “normal ups and downs of revenue.” Fadel added that the number of vessels crossing the canal reached 1,482 a decline of an estimated 80 vessels for the month of May, while the number of vessels crossing the canal during May did see an increase of 5.8 percent compared to the same month of the previous year. BM
