• 193.30 km long
• approximately 12% of the world’s trade moves through the canal.¹⁾
• representing 30% of all global container traffic²⁾
• over $1 trillion worth of goods annually.³⁾
• The modern Suez Canal was completed in 1869 when Egypt was under French occupation.⁴⁾
• After several enlargements, the canal is now close to 200km long and sees on average over 20,000 vessel crossings every year.⁵⁾
• no locks

The Suez Canal is a vital source of foreign exchange for the $380 billion Egyptian economy, whose currency slid to a record low in the past month.⁶⁾

The Suez Canal in Egypt connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea and is a dividing line between Africa and Asia. The canal, which is at the opposite end of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden's Bab Al Mandeb strait, is the shortest maritime route from Europe to Asia and allows ships to avoid the long trip around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope.⁷⁾

The Suez Canal has long played a strategic role in both trade and geopolitics.⁸⁾

Around 12% of global trade passes through the Suez Canal, representing 30% of all global container traffic and over $1 trillion worth of goods annually.⁹⁾

Around 12% of total global seaborne oil trade goes through the Red Sea, alongside large flows of both crude oil and refined products. And this applies to northbound flows towards the Med and Europe, as well as southbound flows which ultimately go towards Asia.¹⁰⁾

It could take a Qatari cargo around 27 days to reach northwest European countries like the UK going around South Africa, compared with 18 days going through the Suez Canal.

Most of the crude heading south out of the Red Sea is of Russian origin, diverted to Asia after the European Union imposed a ban on imports in 2022 in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Northbound crude shipments through the strait primarily are Iraqi oil heading to Europe.

Transit time: 10-14 hours¹⁾

The global nature of energy markets and indigenous capacity should mean the impact on crude oil (13.1%) and refined oil products (21.5%) can be managed.” ¹¹⁾

“About nine million barrels of oil per day were shipped through the Suez Canal in the first half of 2023, according to freight analytics firm Vortexa.” ¹²⁾

Suez Canal and Bab al-Mandeb strait accounted for 8.8 million b/d of total oil flows in the first half of 2023, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

The Red Sea is linked to the Mediterranean by the Suez Canal, which creates the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia. About 12% of world shipping traffic transits the canal.

Die Route über den Suezkanal ins Mittelmeer ist für den Rohöltransport von großer Bedeutung. Analysten der Investmentbank Jefferies schätzen, dass etwa acht Prozent der weltweiten Rohöltransporte durch den Suezkanal gehen.

Together with the Suez Canal and the SUMED pipeline, total oil shipments via the routes accounted for about 12% of total seaborne-traded oil in the first half of 2023, and LNG shipments accounted for about 8% of worldwide LNG trade.¹³⁾

The Red Sea is key for crude and oil product exports from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal or SUMED pipeline. In the other direction, Russia ships significant volumes of Urals crude to Asia via the route.

Saudi Arabia transports some crude oil from the Persian Gulf via pipeline to the Red Sea for export mostly to Europe.

During strong winds in 2021, a huge container ship, the Ever Given, became jammed across it, halting traffic in both directions for six days and disrupting global trade.

With more than 23,000 vessels (June 2023) transiting the Suez Canal each year and significant additional vessel traffic calling at domestic ports, Egypt represents one of the world’s most strategic maritime markets.

“Apparently Asian [buyers] started avoiding CPC because of this uncertainty,” one trader said. “Korean [buyers] bought US crude instead of CPC yesterday and also PG [Persian Gulf] light grades like Murban as a replacement of CPC.” ¹⁴⁾

Those detours come at a cost: going the long way around Africa can add roughly 5,000 miles to voyages.¹⁵⁾

Europe-Asia Red Sea routes take 19 days, alternative around Africa up to 31.¹⁶⁾