Only days after two shipping companies announced the partial suspension of their operations in Puerto Santo Tomás, authorities at the terminal reported that 90% of the Salvadoran cargo has been lost.
The president of Empresa Portuaria Santo Tomas de Castilla (Empornac), Bayron Monterrosa, explained that they have lost almost all of the cargo from El Salvador, which represented 20% of the port terminal's operations.
Due to lack of investment in machinery and equipment in recent years and slow loading and unloading of vessels, the shipping company Maersk Line is to partially suspend its operations in the Guatemalan port terminal.
Empresa Portuaria Quetzal de Guatemala is putting out to tender a tug boat, a launch, and maintenance and repair services for engines.
Guatemala Government Purchase 7705301:
"Acquisition of a tug boat with azimuthal propulsion astern, for docking and undocking operations of ships and a launch for maritime piloting services in the port of Santo Tomás de Castilla."
Panama Ports Company has stated that due to the unfavorable trend registered by the national maritime industry, the company is carrying out organizational changes in order to continue operating.
From a statement issued by Panama Ports Company:
It is difficult for us to send this communication, faced with such a painful decision, against our will.
Guatemalan exporters and authorities at Puerto Santo Tomas de Castilla are working together to find solutions to the congestion affecting the port terminal.
The Department of Competitiveness at the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (Agexport) and representatives of the port terminal started holding meetings last week to develop a road map, which will focus on improving traceability of cargo and the clearance of merchandise.
In 2017, 6 million tons of natural gas passed through the interoceanic route, and by 2020 this figure could rise to 30 million tons.
Explained by an increase in supply in the US deposits and of reserves in Australia, the Panama Canal Authority estimates that in the next three years natural gas traffic could grow fivefold compared to the amount reported in 2017.
In 2017, ports in Guatemala recorded cargo movements of 27.9 million metric tons, exceeding the 26.4 million reported in 2016 by 5%.
According to figures from the National Port Commission, for the years 2016 and 2017, Puerto Santo Tomás de Castilla was the terminal that recorded the largest increase in cargo movement, with 9%, followed by Puerto Barrios with 6% and Puerto Quetzal with 4%.
In Guatemala, Santo Tomás de Castilla Port is putting out to tender the supply of 28 forklifts, 15 terminal-type truck heads, 9 platform trailers and 3 Reach Staker containers.
Guatemala Government Purchase 7705247:
"Public Tender No. 04-2018, acquisition of fifteen (15) terminal type truck heads for container transfer in port terminals of the Santo Tomás de Castilla National Port Company."
For the fiscal year ending September 2018, the authorities foresee that the cargo that will transit through the Canal will reach 431 million tons, 7% more than in the previous period.
According to the Panama Canal Authority, the main reasons for the predicted growth in cargo passing through its facilities are the improvement registered in international prices of raw materials and the increase in demand from emerging economies.
Due to a recovery of customers and the start-up of a new route, the port terminal in Guatemala expects to mobilize 320,000 containers this year, 8% more than in 2017.
Starting in May, the Santo Tomás de Castilla National Port Company (Empornac) will have a new logistics route that will connect the Guatemalan port with the Mexican terminal of Puerto Morelos, in the state of Quintana Roo.
From May 7 to May 11, 2018 companies working in the international maritime industry will be gathering together in Panama City to discuss technical, economic and environmental issues related to water transport infrastructure.
From May 7 to 12, 2018, Panama will host the 34th World Congress of the World Association of Aquatic Transport Infrastructures (PIANC).
Through an agreement with the union of soy and corn producers in Mato Grosso, promotion will be given to the the transfer of grains from the north of Brazil to markets in Asia.
The Canal Authority reported that "...The agreement allows the coordination of joint marketing activities, exchange of market studies and information on commercial flows, as well as modernization and improvement programs."
The Dutch company Van Oord - Bam will be in charge of dredging about 220 thousand cubic meters of sand and silt in the port terminal of Moín in Limón, Costa Rica.
In order to allow the transit of ships with larger drafts, the Port Administration and Economic Development Board of the Atlantic Coast (Japdeva), signed a contract for the dredging work, which will take about three months and should be done at the same time as the operation of the port terminal.
The operator of the port of Limón in Costa Rica, is seeking to diversify its business focusing on conventional cargo handling, in order to compensate for the losses it will face when APM Terminals 's container port comes into operation.
Serving as port of departure for more Nicaraguan exporters and transporting more iron and vehicles are two of the objectives that make up the strategy envisioned by Japdeva, the concessionaire of the port of Moín, in Limón, which they intend to follow over the next few years.