• Suez Canal forecasts $8 billion revenue in 2025/26 as traffic recovers

• Ship numbers, tonnage, and revenue rise amid easing Red Sea tensions

• SCA expands services and notes Maersk’s gradual return to the route

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) expects revenue of about $8 billion in the 2025/2026 fiscal year, Chairman Osama Rabie said. The projection compares with an estimated $4.2 billion for the current year.

Revenue could approach $10 billion by 2027/2028, close to the record posted in 2023. The outlook assumes a gradual recovery in maritime traffic as tensions in the Red Sea ease. After months of disruption, the route through the canal is slowly regaining attractiveness for major shipping lines, which had diverted vessels around the Cape of Good Hope at significantly higher cost.

Between July and Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, a total of 5,874 ships passed through the canal, carrying 247.2 million tons of net tonnage and generating $1.97 billion in revenue. This compares with $1.677 billion over the same period a year earlier, reflecting a 5.2 percent increase in ship numbers, a 14.4 percent rise in tonnage and a 17.5 percent gain in revenue.

In addition to toll income, the SCA is expanding its range of services. New offerings include marine waste-disposal operations through Antipollution Egypt, ship maintenance and repair, crew-change services and pollution-control activities. The authority aims to position the canal as an integrated logistics and maritime services hub that can capture more value from global shipping flows.

A sign of improving conditions came in late November, when the SCA announced the gradual return of A.P. Moller-Maersk vessels to the canal starting in December 2025. The move is viewed as an early indication that major carriers may be shifting back to the route.

Henoc Dossa