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Ship operating costs will get more expensive next year on the main East / West trades as the Suez Canal Authority has hiked toll fees by 6% from February 2022.
All vessel types, except cruise ships and LNG carriers, will be affected.
The Authority stated that it is keen to apply a balanced and flexible marketing and pricing strategy that takes into account global economic conditions. It pointed out that the International Monetary Fund forecasts that the global economy will grow at rates of 5.9% and 4.9% next year.
It also added that the World Trade Organization is forecasting a rise in demand for maritime transport at rates of 6.7% and 4.7% for 2021 and 2022 respectively.
There were about 18,800 ship voyages through the Suez Canal in 2019 of which 5,321 were fully laden container ships. About 54 voyages were containerships in ballast.
Australia’s containerised trade tends not to be directly affected by the Suez Canal. Only about 4% of our fully laden containerised exports head to the Euro-Med area and about 16% are imported from there. In total, about 12% of our fully laded containers originate from / are headed to the Euro-Med area. The vast majority of our containerised trade originates from or is headed to Asia.
However, Australia may well be indirectly affected as shipping is a globally-interconnected business and the Suez Canal is one of the world’s most important waterways for seaborne freight.
