As a result of the global trade imbalance that has become evident in the last year and the considerable increase in logistics costs, Guatemalan importers are beginning to look to Brazil as an option to replace purchases from Chinese companies.
In early March of this year, CentralAmericaData reported that as a result of the imbalance faced by world trade flows, shipping lines have changed their routes and prefer to move empty containers to Asia, a situation that at that time already generated shortages and caused increases in transport rates.
Arguing that three inconsistencies were detected, the General Comptroller's Office of Guatemala ordered to temporarily suspend the bidding of the contract for the improvement of the breakwaters of Port Quetzal.
This is the public tender called "Improvement of Port Infrastructure East and West Breakwaters", which on March 3 was awarded to the company Supervision, Construccion y Mantenimiento, S.A., for $62 million.
Due to the imbalance in world trade flows, shipping lines have changed their routes and prefer to move empty containers to Asia, a situation that generates shortages and causes increases in freight rates and raw material prices.
In this scenario of new commercial reality, the operating costs of maritime freight have been impacted, since due to the restrictions imposed in several countries around the world, containers have been stranded.
Construcciones Integrales Avanzadas S.A., Supervision Construccion y Mantenimiento S.A. and Tecuntrac S.A., were the companies in Guatemala that submitted their proposals in the tender for the improvement of the east and west breakwater port infrastructure of Puerto Quetzal.
According to the opening minutes published in Guatecompras.gob.gt on February 17, 2021, the proposal submitted by Construcciones Integrales Avanzadas S.A.
As of December 15, the X-ray module began operating in the Guatemalan maritime terminal, which will serve to inspect, in a non-intrusive manner, the contents of the containers that are used to import and export goods.
The regulations that will apply for these non-intrusive verifications were published in the Diario de Centro America. The implementation of this system is an indispensable requirement for the certification of ports by the Coast Guard in national security issues and by the tax collector.
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.
A few days before the expiration of the crane service contract in Guatemala's Port of Santo Tomas de Castilla, local exporters expect a possible scenario of rising costs and slower operations.
The crane service contract was in force for 10 years and will expire on September 6. So far, businessmen do not know clearly what is the status of the tender, which the National Port Company Santo Tomas de Castilla (Empornac), must make to award the contract..
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).
The president of Guatemala offered the neighboring country to explore the possibility of El Salvador having a maritime cargo terminal in the Guatemalan Atlantic, a proposal that generates doubts among exporters.
The announcement was made on January 27th, during a meeting between Alejandro Giammattei and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, on the occasion of the signing of the open skies agreement.
The Panama Chamber of Commerce requested the Panama Canal Authority to postpone the start of collection of the fee for the use of fresh water in the Canal, which would begin to be paid on February 15, 2020.
On January 13, the Panama Canal Authority announced that this year "... the value of water will be incorporated into the line of other maritime services through a charge for fresh water, which will depend on the availability of the resource at the time of the vessel's transit. The freshwater charge is applicable to all vessels over 125 feet in length that transit the Canal:
Water and sanitation works in Panama, improvements to a seaport and improvements to a bridge are part of the investments planned for the coming months in the region.
The interactive system "Construction in Central America", compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData, includes an up to date list of public and private construction projects that are planned to be built in the coming months.
Empresa Portuaria Quetzal de Guatemala tenders the supply of forklifts with capacities of 20 and 32 tons.
Guatemala Government Purchase 11004037:
"Some specifications of the 20 ton forklifts:
-4-stroke diesel engine, 6 cylinders with Tier-3 technology from 240 HP to 275 HP and from 7,000 to 8,000 cc.
-Automatic transmission. Hydraulic rudder. Speeds 3 forwards and 2 or more forwards.
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.
In Guatemala, Mecatronica S.A. was awarded the contract to supply 20 front loaders type Reach Stacker, which will be used by the National Port Company Santo Tomás de Castilla for stacking containers.
For the public tender in question, the companies that presented their proposals were Mecatronica S.A., whose amount was $20.4 million, Mantenimiento e Instalaciones Mecánicas S.A., with a proposal of $14.2 million, Corporación General de Tractores S.A., for $11.1 million, and Distribuidora Agrícola for $8.9 million.