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Suez Canal fees to go up in 2007
By Rob Woollard
AFP
ISMAILIYA, Egypt
Petroleumworld.com 12 28 06The Suez Canal Authority said Wednesday it will raise transit fees for ships using the waterway by an average 2.84 percent in 2007.
Its chairman Ali Fadel told the reporters that the increase, to take effect on April 1, would range from 1.14 percent for passenger ships to 3.73 percent for oil tankers.
Egypt's revenues from transit fees on the canal, which links the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, soared to a record 3.82 billion dollars in 2006, up from around 3.4 billion dollars the previous year.
Cargo loads for 2006 are expected to reach 680 million tons, up from 671 million tons in 2005. The rise was spurred mainly by higher fees and soaring global trade with India and China.
Egypt is currently in talks with China to ensure that close to 100 percent of Chinese exports to Europe pass through the Suez Canal -- up from the current 60 percent -- in exchange for lower transit fees.
The Suez Canal, which opened in 1869, is Egypt's third largest source of revenue, after tourism and remittances from expatriate workers.
AFP 27 1530 GMT 12 06
Copyright© 2001 AFP All Rights Reserved.
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