Starting from July 15th, the Suez Canal will significantly increase the temporary passage surcharge for oil tankers and dry bulk carriers

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) officially issued an official navigation circular in June, clarifying that from midnight on July 15, 2026, all ships that initiate transit navigation on the same day will be subject to a new temporary surcharge standard. This price adjustment is only applicable to oil tankers, dry bulk cargo LNG、 For chemical ships, northbound ro ro ships and other transport categories, the surcharge rate for container ships on the Eurasian trunk line will remain at 12% of the original standard and will not be adjusted. It is also a round of charge adjustment that has been implemented by the Suez Canal in the past three years and covers the whole range of energy and bulk commodity ships. All new surcharges will be charged on top of the basic tolls of ships. The canal official stressed that this price increase is a temporary means of regulation and control. In the future, relevant surcharges will be timely reduced or cancelled in combination with the geopolitical situation of the Red Sea, the total volume of ships, and the dynamic assessment of the global shipping market.

There is a significant difference in the rate division this time, with the cost of energy transportation ships rising sharply. The surcharge for fully loaded crude oil and finished oil tankers has been directly increased from 25% to 37%, with a single increase of 12 percentage points. The surcharge for oil tankers sailing with no load and ballast has also been increased from 15% to 27%. For VLCC super large oil tankers carrying hundreds of thousands of tons of crude oil in a single voyage, the additional surcharge alone will increase the expenditure by hundreds of thousands of US dollars for a single vessel and single transit, directly raising the basic logistics cost of transporting crude oil and finished oil across Europe and Asia in the Middle East; As the core carrier of global commodities such as iron ore, coal, grain, and fertilizers, dry bulk cargo ships have doubled their surcharges from 10% to 22%, an increase of up to 120%, covering core trade channels such as iron ore routes from Brazil and Australia to Asia, and grain routes from the Black Sea and North America to Europe, greatly reducing the profit margins of mining companies, grain traders, and fertilizer trading enterprises; In addition, the surcharge for liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships has increased from 7% to 19%, while the surcharge for LPG liquefied gas and chemical transport ships has increased from 20% to 32%. The surcharge for northbound car roll on/roll off ships and heavy-duty multi-purpose heavy lift ships has also increased by 12 percentage points. Only southbound car transport ships and passenger ships are not included in this price increase. Container ships will maintain their original charging standards, which has become a key favorable condition for leading shipping companies such as Maersk and Hapag Lloyd to resume direct shipping to Suez and give up circumnavigating Cape of Good Hope.

There are multiple realistic backgrounds for the canal's decision to implement price increases in mid July. Prior to the ongoing Red Sea crisis, a large number of ships sailed around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa due to safety concerns. The Suez Canal's traffic volume and monthly revenue have declined significantly for two consecutive years. In addition, the canal is simultaneously advancing the second phase of the deep excavation and widening project of the waterway south of the Great Bitter Lake, with an overall infrastructure investment of over 2.5 billion US dollars. Daily dredging of the waterway, upgrading of the coastal security system, and intelligent navigation dispatch platform all require significant financial support. The management bureau urgently needs to adjust surcharges to make up for the funding gap in operation and expansion; At the same time, there will be significant changes in the global shipping pattern in the second quarter of 2026. The pressure on navigation in the Strait of Hormuz will temporarily ease, and a large number of crude oil and dry bulk cargo ships will return to the Suez route. In April, the number of ships sailing through the canal reached 1182, a year-on-year increase of 13.9%. The monthly traffic revenue exceeded 425 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of nearly 30%. The continuous recovery of cargo volume in the Red Sea channel has created a market window for the canal to raise surcharges. Egypt hopes to use the return of cargo to make up for the income losses caused by the previous two years' bypass tides.

This round of price adjustments will have a multi-layered chain impact on the global supply chain, with the transportation costs of crude oil and LNG from the Middle East to China and Europe rising simultaneously on the energy import side. Tanker owners are likely to spread the newly added canal costs evenly among the sea freight quotes, indirectly transmitting them to domestic refined oil and chemical raw material procurement prices, and pushing up the production costs of high, medium, and downstream manufacturing industries; In the field of bulk commodity trade, steel mills, grain and oil processing enterprises, and fertilizer importers are facing continuously rising sea freight expenses. Many small and medium-sized shippers have begun to repeatedly calculate the cost balance point after the price increase of detours around the Cape of Good Hope and the canal. Some long-distance dry bulk carriers and energy ship owners plan to switch detours again, increasing the detours by 2100 nautical miles and prolonging the transportation cycle by 10 to 14 days, further exacerbating the fluctuations in the global bulk commodity supply chain efficiency; The phenomenon of route differentiation will continue to intensify, container ship transportation costs will remain stable, major shipping alliances will continue to retain the Suez direct route, while there will be significant diversion of oil tanker and dry bulk cargo routes, and both transportation modes will push up global shipping capacity scheduling pressure in parallel; Domestic foreign trade enterprises that rely on the Suez route to carry out exports of chemicals, minerals, and grain and oil are also under pressure. After the increase in logistics costs, the pricing advantage of these enterprises for export has been weakened. Some manufacturers plan to slightly increase their overseas quotations to maintain profits. The domestic freight forwarding industry has already notified all cooperating cargo owners in advance of the cost changes after July 15th and updated the booking quotation system accordingly. In the face of this rate adjustment, the International Shipowners Association has collectively sent a letter to the Suez Canal Authority, hoping to gradually adjust prices and establish annual discounts for large shipping companies that have long-term stable cooperation. Domestic cross-border logistics service providers have provided practical suggestions. Enterprises with energy and bulk commodity shipping plans should coordinate their ships to complete the canal transit declaration before July 15th, using the original low surcharge standard. Shipowners who cannot arrange ships in advance can compare the comprehensive cost and timeliness differences of the Red Sea direct route and the Cape of Good Hope detour route, flexibly adjust their shipping plans, and avoid additional expenses caused by the increase in surcharges.