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.
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).
Despite the recent announcement by a Costa Rican company about the future of the operation of the Cargo ferry between El Salvador and Costa Rica, as planned, the service is still not operating and may never do so.
The option of maritime cargo transport emerged again with the objective of minimizing part of the impact that the Nicaraguan crisis has had on intraregional trade. That is why in July the governments of Costa Rica and El Salvador announced that they were already able to begin ferrying operations. See "Cargo Ferry Between La Union and Caldera Back on the Table"
In order to minimize some of the impact that the Nicaraguan crisis has had on intraregional trade, the governments of Costa Rica and El Salvador have announced that they are now in a position to start ferry operations.
After unsuccessfully trying to implement this maritime cargo transport option, in May of last year the Spanish shipping company Odiel decided to end the negotiation process to operate the ferry, due to a disagreement over the setting of tariffs that would have to be charged for the service. Since then, the project has been forgotten.
To be able to ship cargo throughout the region, Central American business leaders are exploring options for moving goods using alternative methods, such as shipping.
Representatives from the Costa Rican government and the union of exporters met to address the issue of blockades in Nicaragua and the logistical drawbacks that they have caused, since Costa Rica transports by land about five thousand containers to the other Central American countries every month. As a result of this meeting, both parties concluded that the most viable option is to use maritime transport.
A new service connects the Guatemalan port with the east coast of the United States, Europe and the Mediterranean, through the port of Caucedo, in the Dominican Republic.
From a statement issued by Agexport:
Derived from the need of the Guatemalan export sector to transport goods in a reduced time of four days, in a more efficient manner, to the Caribbean market, the country's logistics chain has a new service that connects to the port of Santo Tomás de Castilla in the Atlantic with the East Coast of the United States, Europe and the Mediterranean through the port of Caucedo, in the Dominican Republic.
The union of exporters has reported losses of $145 million, and more than 12,000 shipping containers held up because of the blockades which have now been going on for more than a week.
Reports indicate that two shipping companies have suspended operations at the ports and announced they will not disembark because of "inability to ensure the safety of their staff."This is just one example of the serious damage caused to in the country by the blockades and demonstrations held by truckers for almost a week at customs offices and ports in Guatemala.
The arrival of the first ships with capacity of 13 TEUs at the Panamanian port of Balboa is evidence of how shipping services are changing, a prelude to the opening of the expanded Canal.
Trips taken by cargo bound for East Asia with two major shipping companies in the world, Maersk Line and MSC, will be shorter, thanks to the port at Balboa now being able to manage ships carrying over 13,000 TEUs's, a capacity which is close to the amount carried by ships which will pass through the expanded Canal.
The 29 ports on the west coast are once again operating normally, after an agreement between the union dockworkers and the Pacific Maritime Association was signed.
"... Port officials have said it will take six to eight weeks to clear the row of containers waiting to be loaded onto ships at the piers and several months for cargo traffic to get back to its normal rhythm.
Central American exporters are being recommended to keep using alternate routes during the union conflict which is causing ports to operate erratically.
From a statement issued by the Guatemalan Exporters Association (AGEXPOT):
The 29 main ports for goods moving from the West Coast of the United States, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, the main US ports, have been operating erratically since August 2014 due to a conflict which has been going on for months between the International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union from the West Coast (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA).
Canned tuna is preferred over presentations in glass or tetra pak containers, with increased demand reported in varieties of yellow and albacore tuna.
From a statement issued by the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER):
The consumption of canned tuna in the Middle East is concentrated in Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which depend entirely on imports, coming mainly from Thailand (86.4%), Italy (7.4%) and other Southeast Asian countries among these, the Philippines and Indonesia, with 6.6%.
A bill introduced by the government intends to streamline access to the Panamanian market for foreign companies in the provision of maritime auxiliary services.
Excerpted from the bill introduced by the government of Panama:
Law 41 of June 14, 2013, through which reform is made to Law No. 8 of 1998 is amended by Decree, Act 56 of 2008 and Act 57 of 2008 which dictates other provisions on the work at sea and on waterways, significantly restricting access to the Panamanian market to foreign investors in the provision of maritime auxiliary services in the Republic of Panama.
New DHL trade routes include: from Qingdao, China to Santos, Brazil; from Le Havre, France to Veracruz, Mexico; from Miami, USA. to Colon, Panama; and from Hong Kong, China to Managua, Nicaragua.
From a press release published in Dhl.com.mx:
DHL Global Forwarding, the specialist in air and maritime transport which is part of Deutsche Post DHL, has announced the launch of four new direct routes for shipments of consolidated loads (LCL) to countries throughout Latin America. The new trade routes include: from Qingdao, China to Santos, Brazil; from Le Havre, France to Veracruz, Mexico; from Miami, USA. to Colon, Panama; and from Hong Kong, China to Managua, Nicaragua. With the opening of these new routes for LCL in the months of May and June, DHL customers have benefited from shorter transit, better rates and lowering of their carbon footprint.
The threat of paralyzing the work of the third set of locks of the Panama Canal is keeping maritime and port operators around the world on tenterhooks.
The conflict between the construction consortium (GUPC) headed by the Spanish Sacyr and the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), which originated over the demand for the first payment of $1.6 billion in cost overruns and the ACP's rejection of that claim, threatens to extend the opening of the expanded waterway, through which 5% of the world's maritime cargo passes, to beyond 2015.
The "Incoterms", or International Commerce Terms, were modified to better reflect modern practices and avoid ambiguity.
The amendments were announced yesterday in Guatemala by the International Chamber of Commerce, who said that these changes “make obligations of buyers and sellers more clear. For example, the terms of FOB (Free On Board), CFR (Cost and Freight) and CIF (Cost Insurance and Freight) reference to the ship's rail and port of delivery has been omitted for delivery of the goods on board. "