CAIRO — The monthslong suspension of Port Sudan, the main port in Sudan, has been bad news for Sudanese manufacturers and importers. But it could also expedite a new form of cooperation between Egypt and Sudan.

In a press release issued Jan. 12, Kampal Ali Kampal, chairman of the Chamber of Food Industries in Sudan, deplored the frequent disruption of cranes and loading equipment at Port Sudan.

He said that this frequent disruption led to the accumulation of goods at the port for more than four months, which damaged some of the goods and led the exporters to incur additional fees for keeping the goods at the port. Over the past four months alone, he noted, the total losses incurred by the food industries sector amounted to about $10 million.

Faraj Abdel Fattah, a professor of economics at the University of Cairo, told Al-Monitor that not only do the damages resulting from the stalled Sudanese export and import trade negatively affect the state’s resources and the economy in general, they also “adversely affect the lives of Sudanese citizens who are going through critical political circumstance amid recurrent protests against poverty and poor living conditions.”