By Eva Richardson – The Logistic News
March 25, 2025
Egypt’s once-promising project cargo industry is now grappling with a daunting set of obstacles that threaten to undercut its ambitions to become a regional logistics powerhouse. As geopolitical tensions escalate in the Red Sea, infrastructure bottlenecks deepen, and port congestion worsens, industry players are left juggling unpredictability and escalating costs in a landscape that is becoming harder to navigate.
Once bolstered by strong investment and strategic location advantages, Egypt’s heavy-lift and project cargo sector is at what many experts now describe as a critical turning point. Unless meaningful reforms and targeted infrastructure upgrades are fast-tracked, Egypt risks losing its competitive edge in a fiercely contested logistics market.
Geopolitics Crippling Canal Revenues
At the center of Egypt’s current logistical turmoil lies a geopolitical powder keg. Since late 2023, the Red Sea has been rattled by Houthi militant attacks on commercial vessels—an indirect fallout of the ongoing war in Gaza. In response, several major shipping companies, including Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, rerouted their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, bypassing the Suez Canal altogether.
The consequences for Egypt have been immediate and severe. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi confirmed in late 2024 that Suez Canal revenues plunged by 60%, representing a loss of over $7 billion compared to the previous year. For a country where transit fees are a major source of foreign currency, this downturn places considerable strain on both the national budget and its broader trade infrastructure.
Project Cargo Logistics: Struggling Under the Weight
While containerized trade can often adapt through digital rerouting and alternative modes, project cargo—by its very nature—requires carefully planned logistics, heavy equipment, and reliable port access. And that’s where Egypt is currently falling short.
Firms like EWA Group, long active in heavy lift and specialized transport, are being forced to improvise routing and reschedule deliveries, particularly for projects linked to energy and infrastructure. The road from Adabiya Port to Ras Ghareb, for example, has become increasingly difficult to navigate due to intermittent closures and maintenance.
Among the main operational headaches cited by logistics providers:
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Chronic port congestion, particularly at Sokhna and Adabiya, creating delays of several days or more.
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Delays in customs clearance, despite previous improvements in permit processing for strategic projects.
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Currency devaluation, which is increasing the cost of importing specialized cargo handling equipment.
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Insufficient availability of heavy-lift vehicles and flatbed trailers, often forcing companies to rent from neighboring countries at premium rates.
SCEZ: Investment Resilience Despite Declines
Interestingly, the picture is not entirely bleak. The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCEZ)—a flagship industrial hub—has managed to attract $6.3 billion in private investment across 164 projects over the past two years, even as revenue from transit traffic fell. The SCEZ leadership has also confirmed ongoing work on container berth expansions in East Port Said and a new desalination plant in Sokhna to support green hydrogen projects.
Nevertheless, these long-term investments are in sharp contrast with the short-term reality: a sector in flux, and clients who are increasingly choosing alternative logistics corridors through the UAE, Djibouti, or even Greece and Turkey to avoid delays and uncertainty.
A Regional Snapshot: Comparative Challenges
Egypt is not alone in facing logistics-related difficulties. Across Europe, driver shortages have crippled inland transport capacity. In sub-Saharan Africa, poor road conditions and fuel instability are constant disruptors. However, Egypt’s combination of strategic geography and legacy port infrastructure once gave it a distinct advantage.
Now, with shifting trade routes, it must fight to retain that relevance.
Comparatively, Morocco is modernizing its Tanger Med port; Saudi Arabia is pouring billions into NEOM and logistics hubs; and the UAE is setting the standard with smart port automation in Jebel Ali. Egypt, in contrast, is dealing with aging port equipment, regulatory ambiguity, and frequent infrastructure disruptions.
What Lies Ahead: Risk or Recovery?
For Egypt’s project cargo sector, the path forward will require both vision and velocity. Industry leaders are calling for a fast-tracked overhaul of customs systems, investment in modernized transport corridors, and urgent negotiations with global carriers to re-establish confidence in Egyptian ports.
The stakes are high. With billions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure and energy projects—many tied to the nation’s Vision 2030 economic development goals—Egypt can’t afford to let its logistics sector become a liability.
Unless proactive measures are taken, the country’s central role in the movement of outsized and critical cargo could fade into the background of a new, more agile, regional order.
About the Author:
Eva Richardson is Senior Correspondent at The Logistic News, focusing on Middle Eastern infrastructure, heavy-lift logistics, and energy-related cargo movement. Her reporting offers ground-level insight into trade corridors and global supply chain transitions.
