Revenues at Egypt’s Suez Canal rose 10 per cent in June to $383.7m compared to the same month the previous year.

About 1,482 vessels passed through the canal in June, which marked a 5.8 per cent increase from June 2009.

Despite the year-on-year increase, June revenues fell when compared to the previous month of May.

Since May non-oil vessel traffic declined 6.3 per cent to 1,187 vessels, while revenues at the canal fell 2.8 per cent from $395m (MEED 10:6:10).

As June is an historically slow month, revenues at the waterway are likely to rise going forward as global trade improves, especially between Asia and the US.

The Suez Canal Authority achieved total revenues of $1.1bn for the first three months of 2010.

The waterway is a vital source of foreign currency in Egypt, along with tourism, oil and gas exports and remittances from Egyptians living abroad.

If the Suez Canal Authority decides to raise transit fees in 2011, this would raise revenues to $5bn in the next financial year.