New Suez Canal

The 2015 expansion added capacity on the main sea route between Asia and Europe, but the canal remained a chokepoint whose disruptions reach importers worldwide. Egypt dug a 35-kilometer parallel channel and deepened about 37 kilometers of the old canal, a project reported to cost about $8 billion, so more ships could pass in both directions at once. The government projected daily transits rising from 49 to 97 ships by 2023. Importers rarely deal with the canal directly, but its capacity and any blockage affect transit times, vessel schedules, and when inventory from Asia reaches European and US East Coast warehouses.

• Lead TimeTime from purchase order to sellable stock

• Opening of the Suez Canal1869 · A canal joins the Mediterranean and the Red Sea
• Suez Crisis1956–1957 · Egypt nationalizes the canal and war closes it
• Suez Canal Closure of 1967 to 19751967–1975 · War shuts the canal for eight years

1. Suez Canal expansion opened with pomp and ceremony (GBH News, AP) wgbh.org
2. New Suez Canal (GlobalSecurity.org) globalsecurity.org
3. New Suez Canal (China Daily) chinadaily.com.cn