Suez Canal Revenue Surges 42% as Hormuz Crisis Reroutes Energy Flows

Suez Canal revenue rose 42% year-on-year in July 2026 to USD 505 million — the highest monthly level recorded since December 2023 — as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz following the US-Israeli war with Iran, which began on February 28, 2026, rerouted global energy flows through the Red Sea and benefited Egypt's canal, according to data.

A total of 1,340 vessels transited the canal in July, 27% more than in July 2025 and up from 1,208 vessels in June — extending a partial recovery that began earlier in the year. Oil tankers accounted for 526 of July's vessels, compared with 485 the month before. In April 2026, 529 tankers had transited the canal — a 28% year-on-year increase — while total traffic reached 1,182 vessels, a 14% rise on April 2025, and revenue reached USD 419 million that month, the highest level since early 2024.

The Suez Canal Authority forecasts that full-year revenue for the 2026 fiscal year will climb to between USD 5.8 billion and USD 6 billion, up from USD 4.1 billion in 2025, Chairman Osama Rabie stated on a local television channel. The authority also expects 15,500 ships to transit the waterway in the 2026/27 fiscal year, up 20% from 13,000 the year prior. As per data, a notable uptick in oil tanker transits since mid-to-late March 2026, with multiple days recording over 40 transits — a level that had not been seen in either 2025 or pre-war 2026. On May 8, a high of 50 daily tanker transits was recorded.

The recovery is being driven primarily by the rerouting of Saudi Arabian crude exports via the East-West pipeline to Yanbu on the Red Sea — a workaround to the Hormuz closure — combined with a broader shift by Gulf producers toward Red Sea export routes. Despite the ongoing uplift, both total crossings and revenue remain far below levels seen before the Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping that began in late 2023 and 2024, which authorities estimate have cost the canal at least USD 9 billion in potential revenue over that period.