IMF: Suez Canal transit traffic declined by 62% due to Red Sea disturbances

The International Monetary Fund revealed that the first ten days of March 2024 witnessed a continued decline in trade passing through the Egyptian Suez Canal due to the Red Sea attacks and the turmoil in the region, which led to the disruption of supply chains and a decline in major global macroeconomic indicators.

The IMF said, through its account on the “X” platform, that in the first ten days of March, transit traffic through the Suez Canal decreased by 62 percent on an annual basis.

Data from the International Monetary Fund’s Port Watch platform – which tracks the movement of ships and cargo carriers through important sea lanes in the world – show that on March 5, 2024, 14 tankers and 17 cargo ships passed through the Suez Canal, compared to 16 tankers and 44 cargo ships on the same day in 2023.

The Fund added that the attacks on ships in the Red Sea region forced them to change their course towards the Cape of Good Hope, noting that diverting ships increased the delivery period by 10 days or more on average, which harmed companies with limited inventory.

For its part, Fitch Agency revealed that changing the course of ships and being forced to circle around Africa led to an increase in the duration of the route between Asia and Europe by about 50 percent.

The International Monetary Fund had warned earlier in March that disruption of navigation traffic in two important sea lanes, the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal, could have major repercussions on the volume of global maritime trade, estimated at about 14 trillion dollars.

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