From 26 to 30 August, representatives of the port industry of Central America and the Dominican Republic will meet in Antigua Guatemala to discuss innovation, trends and facilitation of international trade.
From the National Port Commission of Guatemala' s press release:
Guatemala has become the venue for one of the most important port events in Central America: the 41st Port Meeting of the Central American Isthmus, better known by its acronym REPICA.
In the first nine months of 2018, eight environmental impact studies were presented to perform dredging works and new constructions in different port terminals in the region, with a $75 million estimated investment.
The interactive platform "Construction in Central America", compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData, includes an up to date list of public and private construction projects for which environmental impact studies (EIA) were submitted to the respective institutions of each country.
Two multipurpose cranes with the capacity to mobilize 600 tons will begin operating at Guatemala's maritime terminal on December 12th.
Representatives of the Ministry of Communications informed that the new cranes of Operadora Logística de Guatemala, S.A., the company that won the tender to provide the service, have a $6 million cost each.
Hector Recinos, vice minister of Communications in charge of ports and airports, said to Prensalibre.com that "... The crane service operations are going to be reactivated and with the shipping agents the itineraries to receive ships with containerized goods have already been programmed."
The National Port Company Santo Tomás de Castilla will seek external financing to develop the expansion works planned for the port terminal in the next five years.
According to the representatives of the Empresa Portuaria Nacional Santo Tomas de Castilla (Empornac), in the next five years a cruise terminal will be built, one for solid and liquid bulk, and another for containers.
During the first nine months of the year, cargo movement in Panama totaled 61.8 million metric tons, 5% less than the figure reported for the same period in 2017.
The latest data from the General Comptroller detail that only last September was reported a year-on-year fall of 8% in cargo movement, declining from 7.6 million metric tons in the ninth month of 2017 to 7 million metric tons in the same period of 2018.
In the last five years, the Honduran maritime terminal has gone from moving 20 to 40 containers per hour, and the average service time per truck has fallen from 120 to 40 minutes.
According to the representatives of the Central American Port Operator (PPO), the concessionaire of the maritime terminal since 2013, have had to make investments in different areas of the port to increase its operational capabilities.
Freight movement in Panama totaled 54.8 million metric tons in the first eight months of the year, 5% less than that reported in the same period in 2017.
The most recent figures of the General Comptroller detail that only last August reported a year-on-year fall of 13% in the freight movement, falling from 7.8 million metric tons in the eighth month of 2017 to 6.8 million metric tons in the same period of 2018.
In Costa Rica a private consortium has proposed investing $50 million in the modernization of the port of Quepos, to transform it into a terminal with capacity to receive large cruise ships.
Authorities at the Costa Rican Institute of Ports of the Pacific (Incop) reported that the offer by the Costa Rican consortium CEPP Consultants LLC, which was put forward last Tuesday and will be analyzed starting from next week, and relates to a project be developed through the granting of a concession.
After investing close to $240 million, the Central American Port Operator has started operations at pier number 6 of the Honduran maritime terminal.
See statement from the Presidency of Honduras.
Puerto Cortés, September 21."Pier number 6 is on its way to making Puerto Cortés the leader of the region and the Caribbean," said President Juan Orlando Hernandez today when inaugurating the work, which represents a major step in the modernization of these port facilities.
In the first seven months of the year, movement in Panama totaled 47.9 million metric tons, 3% less than was reported in the same period in 2017.
According to figures from the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic in July alone a 19% year-on-year drop in cargo movement was reported, falling from 7.8 million metric tons in the seventh month of 2017 to 6.3 million tons metrics in the same period in 2018.
It has been announced that the port terminal will receive two new cranes valued at $26 million, an investment that is part of the project to expand and equip Pier 6.
The Honduran Presidency reported that the two cranes, Super Post Panamax Ship-to-Shore, will be the largest in the region and will be installed on pier 6 of Puerto Cortés, which in recent years has been undergoing an expansion and modernization process.
Authorities at the Guatemalan port terminal announced that they have solved the container congestion problem reported weeks ago, and have started working on a reengineering process.
Empresa Portuaria Nacional Santo Tomás de Castilla (Empornac) reported that after implementing a series of actions of a logistical nature, they have managed to solve the problem of container saturation in that area, and their operations remain stable.
The Guatemalan port terminal is putting out to tender eight Straddle Carrier container movers, two 40-foot spreaders and a 20-foot spreader.
Guatemala Government Purchase 8093229:
"Acquisition of eight container transport machines (straddle carrier) for stacking containers, for operations at Empresa Portuaria Nacional Santo Tomas de Castilla.
Following the revelation a few days ago of the inadequate conditions at the Guatemalan port terminal, its authorities have initiated several hiring processes.
Details of the main tenders to be carried out by the institution:
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.