Egypt plans five new ports to expand trade capacity

Egypt is planning to build five new ports on the Red Sea and Mediterranean, bringing the total number of commercial ports to 19, transport minister Kamel El-Wazir has said.

The move will expand the port footprint to 100 million square metres, according to the Egyptian cabinet statement.

Egyptian ports handled 233 million tonnes of cargo in 2025, up 12 percent from last year. Container throughput reached 11 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), rising by a quarter year on year, El-Wazir said.

Egypt plans to expand its commercial maritime fleet to 40 vessels by 2030, capable of transporting 30 million tonnes of cargo annually.

It is also working to build integrated logistics corridors connecting the Red Sea and Mediterranean sea ports to the Suez Canal and industrial zones.

The corridors are designed to connect Egypt with the GCC, the Levant, Africa, Europe and Asia through railways, the electric high-speed rail network and highways, reducing cargo transit times and logistics costs.

The minister said in July that two of these are new Arab trade routes that will support global transport initiatives, such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (Imec), China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the Iraq-Turkey Development Road project.

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• UAE’s logistics corridors cut reliance on Hormuz

GCC countries are already working to build an intermodal logistics network following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

In March Saudi Arabia launched the Logistics Corridors Initiative to facilitate cargo transfers between GCC ports and strengthen supply chain resilience.

Trade through the Hatta Customs Crossing – the overland trade and travel gateway between the UAE and Oman – grew sharply in the first half of 2026 after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Oman is already building new road, rail and port infrastructure to strengthen its position as a Gulf logistics centre. It is speeding up construction of the OMR1 billion ($2.6 billion) road networks proposed before the war.