Suez Canal’s April revenue driven up by rise in oil tanker traffic

The number of oil tankers transiting Egypt’s Suez Canal rose by a third in April following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the Iran war.

A total of 529 tankers used the waterway in April, 28 percent higher than the same month last year, Bloomberg reported, quoting the state-owned official statistics agency Capmas.

Overall, total traffic showed a 14 percent increase from April 2025, with 1,182 vessels using the canal.

Suez Canal revenues for April reached $419 million, 27 percent more than the year before and the highest monthly figure since early 2024, the report said.

Global shipping companies stopped transiting the waterway after Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen started attacking ships in the Red Sea in late 2023.

In March, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said the Suez Canal recorded a $10 billion (EGP500 billion) decline in cumulative receipts since the start of the decade.

The Red Sea corridor accounts for about 12 to 15 percent of global trade and nearly 30 percent of container traffic.

Houthi strikes on vessels in the Bab al Mandab Strait caused Suez Canal traffic to drop more than 90 percent in 2024 and 2025, according to research group Jefferies. This cost Egypt $800 million per month, El Sisi said last year.

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