The Red Sea Diversion: Impact at a Glance

Key numbers from two years of Asia–Europe shipping disruption  |  Procurement Spectrum, April 2026

+3,500 nm
Extra distance per voyage
Cape of Good Hope diversion vs Suez Canal route
+10–14 days
Added transit time
Asia–Northern Europe voyages extended by up to two weeks
+33%
Fuel consumption increase
Higher bunker burn on the longer Cape routing
−50%
Suez Canal transits
From 26,000+ ships (2023) to 13,213 (2024)
+274%
SCFI freight rate surge
Shanghai–Europe index, Jan 2023 to Jul 2024 peak
−$7 bn+
Egypt canal revenue lost
Over 60% decline in Suez Canal income for 2024

The cost base has structurally reset. Category strategies and total-cost models built on pre-2024 benchmarks are quietly overstating savings.

— Procurement Spectrum Analysis

Sources: Hillebrand Gori; WEF; Euronews; IMF; Shanghai Shipping Exchange; Daily News Egypt  |  Procurement Spectrum — procurement-spectrum.com