After Panama's National Assembly approved a legislative bill that sets the minimum wage for workers in the maritime industry at $4.15 per hour, local businessmen have expressed their disagreement.
The document approved in third debate, establishes in its articles that workers of concessionary companies, contractors and subcontractors of ports and maritime transport terminals will earn a minimum wage of $4.15 per hour throughout the national territory, informed the National Assembly on April 12, 2021.
In order to ensure the supply of drinking water supply to half of the Panamanian population for the next 50 years, achieve water sustainability in its operations and guarantee its competitiveness, the Panama Canal will invest $2 billion.
In Honduras, tugging services are being tendered for the execution of docking and undocking of ships, for the maritime terminals of Cortés, Omoa, Tela and San Lorenzo.
Honduras Government purchase LPI-ENP-01-2020:
"Consists of providing docking and undocking services in Puerto Cortés and Omoa with a minimum of 2,400 operations between two tugboats in the twelve months, redocking service in the Port of Tela that includes time for the vessel to be kept and the crossing.
After the Quetzal Port Company of Guatemala and the Port of Chiapas, Mexico, signed an agreement for strategic commercial promotion, it is expected that in May the short sea route will begin to operate.
The potential offered by the Port of Chiapas as a logistic node for commercial exchange from and to Central America, as well as with other international markets, makes it a strategic place for the promotion of the Short Sea Shipping (SSS) project with Guatemala and eventually with other Mesoamerican countries, informed the Mexican Secretariat of Communications and Transport (SCT).
In Costa Rica, exporters insist that rates be renegotiated at the Moin Container Terminal, since currently the cost of moving a container at that terminal exceeds by about $207 what was paid at the Japdeva docks.
Between January and November 2019, the national port system continued to record positive numbers, as 85 thousand metric tons of cargo were mobilized, a figure 11% higher than that reported for the same period in 2018.
The General Comptroller of the Republic reported that only last November there was a 10% year-on-year increase in cargo movement, rising from 7.5 million metric tons in the eleventh month of 2018 to 8.2 million metric tons in the same period in 2019.
One year after the start-up of operations of the maritime terminal in Costa Rica, businessmen recognize that efficiency has improved, but insist that there should be a reduction in tariffs.
Costa Rican exporters are negotiating to change the frequency of the maritime route between Port Moin and Shanghai from monthly to weekly from February 2020.
After the cargo movement in Panama grew 2% in 2018 compared to 2017, in the first eight months of 2019 the volume transported totaled 60.1 million metric tons, 10% more than in the same period last year.
The latest report of the General Comptroller of the Republic details that only last August reported a 22% year-on-year increase in cargo movement, rising from 6.7 million metric tons in the eighth month of 2018 to 8.2 million metric tons in the same period of 2019.
From September 24, the Chamber of Industry of Guatemala will begin to offer a training workshop on the updating of the Incoterms trade rules, which will apply from January 2020.
The Incoterms are the rules of sale of goods, which offer security and clarity in trade, for companies and users around the world. They were created by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
The Guatemalan exporters' guild presented its direct route service, with a new option to the main ports of the Caribbean with connections to the Main Liners for Northern Europe/Mediterranean and the rest of the world.
Within the framework of its strategic objective to improve the competitiveness of Guatemalan companies through identifying and designing new logistics services for export, the Commission of Integrated Services for Export (SIEX) of AGEXPORT through its partner company CMA CGM presented its new service of direct routes with transit times and competitive rates, informed the guild.
Since mid-July, the main companies transporting maritime cargo from the Port of Santa Tomas in Guatemala stopped operating the direct route to Europe, which will raise between 20% and 25% the costs of imports and exports.
After six decades of keeping the direct route to European ports in operation, the main shipping companies departing from Puerto Santo Tomás de Castilla in Izabal such as Maersk, Hamburg Sud, MSC, CMA-CGM, Hapas Lloyd and Sea Trade, decided not to re-operate the route concerned, leaving only one company with a multipurpose transport ship as an option to move cargo to Europe.
After in 2018, the cargo movement in Panama increased 2% over 2017, in the first five months of 2019 the volume transported totaled 35.4 million metric tons, 3% more than in the same period last year.
The latest report of the General Comptroller of the Republic details that only last May reported a 12% year-on-year increase in cargo movement, rising from 7 million metric tons in the fifth month of 2018 to 7.9 million metric tons in the same period of 2019.
To solve the congestion problem affecting Guatemala's port network, it is estimated that at least $133 million needs to be invested to improve the operations of current terminals.
The average standard for port operation is on average 50%, however, currently the country is reaching occupancy limits above 60%, which means that they are reaching congested points that make them less efficient.
After several delays in the construction process, the Moin Container Terminal was officially inaugurated in Costa Rica, a port that has already been authorized to start operations of the second berth.
The operations of the maritime terminal in charge of the concessionaire APM Terminals began in October 2018, since at the end of that month the authorities of the National Council of Concessions informed that after the definitive reception of the work, the maritime terminal received the order to start operating.