Egypt’s Suez Canal has recorded its highest revenues since late 2008 of $406.2m in July.

This figure represents a 6.1 per cent increase compared to the revenues of $382.9m achieved in July 2009.

The revenues are also a 5.9 per cent increase on June. Revenues at the canal stood at $383.7m in June, a 10 per cent rise compared to the same month the previous year (MEED 12:7:10).

Revenues are likely to continue to increase as global trade and earnings from the Suez Canal increase.

Traffic in the waterway increased by 2.2 per cent in July reaching 1,554 vessels compared to 1,521 ships in the previous July. A total of 71.9 million tonnes of cargo were transported through the waterway in July. Transit traffic also increased in the canal in the first seven months, reaching 10,205 vessels.

These latest figures show that during the first seven months of the year, revenues were up a total of 11.5 per cent over the same time the year before, reaching $2.7bn.

On 5 August, the vessel Eleftheria K passed through the canal carrying 211 tonnes of iron ore from the Ukraine to China and paid $360,000 in fees to pass. This was the largest vessel to ever travel through the Suez Canal.