7% of Global Trade Was Held Up in Blocked Suez Canal

Poor weather conditions and lack of visibility resulted in a giant 200,000-ton container ship, Ever Given, blocking the Suez Canal for almost a week, from Tuesday, March 23 to Monday, March 29. Since the Suez Canal is the most important trade route connecting Europe and North America in the North and the Middle East and Asia in the South, the blockage halted a significant proportion of global trade until the ship’s eventual release early this morning.

• The annual cargo shipped through the Suez Canal in both directions accounts for around 9%, by weight, of global seaborne trade, and more than 7%* of all global trade. The highest economic damage from blockage of the Suez Canal falls on Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Netherlands, China and Egypt — countries whose trade turnover through the canal exceeds 100 thousand tons per year.
• According to the Suez Canal Authority Annual Report, a total of 107 million tons of crude oil (equivalent to 2.2 million barrels/day or 5% of world crude exports) and 53 million tons of cereals (12% of global cereals trade) went through the Suez Canal in 2019.

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