A bill aims to create a special tax regime, labor and migration incentives for maritime financing institutions and firms carrying out financeable projects.
The Cabinet of the Government of Panama decided to authorize the Minister of the Presidency to propose to the National Assembly, a bill which would create a special regime with incentives in tax, labor and migration incentives for financeable maritime institutions and firms carrying out projects and other provisions.
In 2015 3.7 million metric tons of marine fuel were sold in Panama, 16.2% more than in 2014.
According to preliminary figures from the Maritime Authority of Panama, of the 3.7 million metric tons of marine fuel sold in 2015, 3.4 million were Fuel Oil and 252,521 Marine Diesel Oil. The number of ships catered for also increased, going from 4,699 in 2014 to 5,699 in 2015, reflecting an increase of 21.2%.
On March 11 the second edition of the event will be held which will present opportunities for business development that will arise from the opening of the third set of locks of the Panama Canal.
The Panama Maritime Chamber is organizing the event called Logistic Summit 2016: Logistics in the Americas after the Canal Expansion on March 11.
The amount of containers transported went up by 5% between 2014 and 2015, while freight movement in tonnes grew by 7% in the same period.
According to the Maritime Authority of Panama, the only items that showed a negative percentage rate when comparing the months of January and February 2014 and 2015 were the movement of cruise passengers and the movement of vehicles.
A terminal in Bilwi, Puerto Cabezas, would streamline logistics of cargo which currently comes through the ports of Limon in Costa Rica and Cortés in Honduras.
If the plans of the National Port Company (EPN) are realised, the operator of the entire logistics system that involves moving goods through Nicaragua's northern Caribbean could significantly improve their times.
The cost and time to transport containers at the terminal are not competitive with other ports in Central America.
While moving a container in Puerto Cortés costs about $2,308, other ports in the region charge more competitive rates, such as Manzanillo, Panama ($665), Quetzal, Guatemala ($977), Limon, Costa Rica ($1,020), Acajutla , El Salvador ($1,040), Corinto, Nicaragua ($1,140), and Santo Tomas, Guatemala ($1,450).
The Guatemalan Tax Authority has announced that the start of operations at the terminal, originally scheduled for December, will now be in February 2016.
Lack of a special dredging activities which must be carried out using machinery that will arrive in the country in January is the main reason for the delay to the start of operations.
Francisco Rivera, interim superintendent, told S21.com.gt that "...
In order to analyze the impact that Panama Canal expansion will have on this sector it is necessary to dissect the current numbers on movement and transshipment of containers in Latin America.
From a report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC):
Trade in container ports in the region up 1.3% in 2014
Ranking updated by USI / ECLAC confirms the slowdown in foreign trade shown by the container terminals in Latin America and the Caribbean in recent years. The movement of containerized cargo at ports in Latin America and the Caribbean grew by 1.3% in 2014, according to data released today by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). This year's ranking of movements in container ports confirms high heterogeneity: the west coast of South America is up (5.3%), Mexico (4.0%) and Central America (3.4%), but the East Coast of South America (-2.2%) and the Caribbean (-8.2%) are down.
The maritime union is opposed to the decision of the Maritime Port Authority to suspend the licensing for service provisioning and transport of fuel.
The only companies exempt from the measure are those with an existing direct contract with any oil company, according to the letter sent by Gerardo Varela, General Director of Ports and Auxiliary Maritime Industries at the AMP, to the Maritime Chamber of Panama, shipping companies and users of the entity.
Shipping companies are preparing to increase by between 10% and 12% the rates for maritime transport from Guatemala to the United States.
These increases have yet to be confirmed by the Federal Maritime Commission of the United States, explained Rolando Coronado, president of the Shipping Association of Guatemala, but the export sector predicts a deterioration in competitiveness.
A proposal has been made to develop a specialized Roll on-Roll off cargo terminal in the Pacific, to improve the management of vehicles and heavy equipment and create other opportunities for the automotive industry, such as automobile accessorization.
The proposal put forward by the Panama Canal Authority is to develop a specialized docking area for roll on- roll off ships, transporting vehicles to Panama, from where they are distributed to other markets. The aim is to promote the development of this type of cargo in Panama and lay the foundation for the development of other business lines that generate added value and chains. One of the activities that can be developed is dedicated to adding value to vehicles, called "accessorization".
Since July a new weekly route between the port of Santo Tomas de Castilla and the private terminal Holts Logistics has been operating in Philadelphia, USA.
From a statement issued by the Guatemalan Exporters Association (Agexport):
The Table for US Division Logistics Competitiveness at AGEXPORT informs the export sector of Guatemala that the company Sealand in coordination with Holt Logistics launched in July 2015 in the city of Philadelphia, United States, a new shipping service between Guatemala and Philadelphia.
In order to reduce the average age of the fleet the Maritime Authority is offering discounts until December 2016 of up to 100% on the rate of registration of new vessels.
Resolution 106-67-DGMM published in La Gaceta:
FIRST: grant a waiver which is additional to the discounts provided for in the Act No. 57 of August 6, 2008 based on the Article 8. of up to one hundred percent (100%) on all those newly built vessels that fall under the Panamanian Merchant Marine from the effective date of this Resolution until December 31, 2016, from the following fees and charges;
One of the routes is operated by Maersk Line from Asia to the US West Coast and the other by the company Hamburg Sud, going from South America to the Caribbean.
The Canal Administrator Jorge Quijano, said these two new services will generate "between $25 million to $30 million each." Vessels operating the routes are of medium size and will start going through the canal in the coming months.
While the epic speeches on a regional maritime traffic sound crazy, Puerto Cortes is rationally emerging as the hub port in the North Central Triangle .
The port terminal, announcing an increase in productivity of 90% through the modernization of the container and general cargo terminal, aims to be the hub for cargo coming from North America and cargo destined for Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua.