By Ingy Ashraf,
Suez Canal commercial traffic fell 42 percent in the last two months, according to UN and warned about global trade risk.
The Iran-backed Houthis claim they are targeting Israeli-linked commercial and military shipping in the region in sympathy with Palestinians in Gaza, leading to movement goods over longer ways, and more expensive routes to escape attack.
“We are very concerned that the attacks on Red Sea shipping are adding tensions to global trade, exacerbating (existing) trade disruptions due to geopolitics and climate change,” UNCTAD Secretary-General Jan Hoffman stated on Thursday.
The UNCTAD confirms that ships leaving the Red Sea sailing around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope instead has resulted in a decline by 42 percent in transit through Suez canal during last two months.
The Suez Canal in Egypt connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. According to Hoffman, maritime transport accounts for more than 80% of worldwide goods commerce.
“Maritime transport is really the lifeline of global trade,” he added.
According to UNCTAD, the number of weekly container ship transits via the Suez Canal has decreased by 67 percent year on year, despite the fact that the Suez Canal handles more than 20% of global container commerce.
Hoffman said, “Given that it’s above all the larger container ships that divert from the Suez Canal, the decline in container carrying capacity is even bigger.”
In the bilateral sea transport, tanker traffic fell by 18%; during blizzard-carrying model of bulk cargo ships six percent; in gas carriage stands at zero.
Additionally, approximately 12 to 15 percent of the global trade some 20 thousand vessels each year pass through the Red Sea, which provides a channel for connecting Europe and Asia.
The situation has become even more urgent as other global maritime trade routes have been disrupted, with transit across the Black Sea severely restricted since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago, driving global food prices soaring.
A drought in Central America has resulted in a decline in water levels in the Panama Canal, limiting the amount of traffic that can transit the critical water route.
the UNCTAD warned, “Prolonged disruptions in major trade routes would disrupt global supply chains, leading to delayed deliveries of goods, increased costs and potential inflation.”
