DP World opens logistics park in Egypt amid Red Sea traffic slowdown
- Opening of logistics park comes amid a dip in vessel traffic in the region, on the back of vessel attacks on the Red Sea
- Drop in vessel traffic unlikely to shake DP World’s broader ambitions in Egypt
Second phase of park opening is expected in third quarter of next year
DUBAI-headquartered DP World today officially opened its Sokhna Logistics Park in Egypt.
The park was developed in partnership with the UK’s British International Investment, with DP World investing $85m in the park.
It is located in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, 15 minutes away from Sokhna port, 30 minutes from Suez and 45 minutes away from the New Administrative Capital.
DP World has already secured initial contracts and has some 90 customers in the pipeline.
The opening of the logistics park comes amid a dip in vessel traffic in the region, on the back of vessel attacks on the Red Sea.
Suez Canal Authority data shows a sharp drop in vessel traffic since its 2022/23 fiscal year, when attacks on the Red Sea first began.
The number of vessels fell from 25,911 in the 2022/23 financial year, the highest since the fiscal year of 2015/16, to just 12,393 in 2024/25 financial year.
Similar trends were observed when data was compared on net tonne and cargo tonne bases.
The canal saw a fall from 1.5bn net tonnes in 2022/23 to 483m in 2024/25. These figures declined from 1.3bn to 416m on a cargo tonne basis.
This dip is expected to persist despite the recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Major shipping lines are expected to adopt a wait-and-watch approach before fully committing to Suez transits once again.
But it is unlikely to have a big impact on DP World’s balance sheet.
