Egypt's Suez Canal Revenues Up 7% To $445.8 Million In January

Wednesday, Feb 15, 2012

CAIRO (Zawya Dow Jones)--Revenue from Egypt's Suez Canal, the country's main waterway and a vital source of foreign currency, climbed 7% on the year in January, according to data posted on Suez Canal Authority website.

Revenues rose to $445.8 million last month from $416.6 million in January 2011, the website showed. December 2011 revenues stood at $443.7 million.

In December, the canal's authority said it would raise toll fees for all vessels passing through the strategic waterway by 3% starting March 2012, and said tariffs had not been changed for the previous three years.

Data from the Authority also showed there was a 24.4% increase in cargo traffic in January.

-By Farah Halime; Contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; Fhalime@gmail.com

Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

15-02-12 1139GMT