Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority (SCA) plans to keep in place toll discounts for eastbound containerships coming from the US East Coast amid new competition from the new Panama Canal locks and an overall weakness in the containership industry.
The SCA said that “in line with the Suez Canal Authority('s) flexible pricing policy and considering the dialogue with the shipping lines,” the discounted tolls will remain in place until the end of this year.
Containerships transiting from US ports north of and including Norfolk, Virginia to ports in the Straits of Malacca including Malaysia’s Port Kelang and eastward ports will get a 45% reduction in tolls.
Containerships outbound from US ports south of Norfolk to the same destinations will receive a 65% discount on tolls. Outbound containerships from US ports to en route to Sri Lanka’s Colombo Port will receive a 55% reduction on tolls through the Suez Canal.
The SCA introduced the toll reductions originally back in June as major container lines opted to use the longer route around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope in order to save toll fees. But the wider Panama Canal is also presenting a new challenge as Asian shippers opt for a trans-Pacific route to the US East Coast.
Niels Erich, a spokesman for the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement containership consortium, says there has been a trend of more container traffic coming from Asia to US East Coast ports via the wider locks on the Panama Canal.
“A lot of containerships are opting to use the Panama Canal rather than the Suez,” Erich said. “Panama Canal containership traffic has seen growth.”
