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. amounts to $61.9 million, that of Supervisión Construcción y Mantenimiento S.A. to $61.7 million and that of Tecuntrac S.A. to $59.5 million.
Mandatory use of low-sulfur fuel by ships, shortage of containers and priority for medical supplies and vaccines will push up sea and air freight costs.
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.
Dohwa Engineering, a South Korean firm, will be in charge of the feasibility study for the expansion of the maritime terminal in El Salvador.
The feasibility study for the Development Plan of the Port of Acajutla, will provide technical guidelines to execute the necessary investments, expand and upgrade its facilities, in addition to improving the operational efficiency of the port.
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.
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.
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.
Currently, transporting goods by sea between Central American countries can increase freight costs by at least 60% compared to the land option, which represents an obstacle to changing the way goods are transferred in the region.
As a result of the closure of the Penas Blancas customs crossing, on the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, some businessmen in the region had to resort to the sea route in order to deliver their orders.
The Costa Rican Petroleum Refinery tenders the construction of the filtration systems in the marine lines and polyduct in the Moin Terminal, located in the province of Limon.
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).
In Costa Rica, exporters insist that rates be renegotiated at the Moin Container Terminal, since currently the cost of moving a container at that terminal exceeds by about $207 what was paid at the Japdeva docks.
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.
Between January and November 2019, the national port system continued to record positive numbers, as 85 thousand metric tons of cargo were mobilized, a figure 11% higher than that reported for the same period in 2018.
The General Comptroller of the Republic reported that only last November there was a 10% year-on-year increase in cargo movement, rising from 7.5 million metric tons in the eleventh month of 2018 to 8.2 million metric tons in the same period in 2019.
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.
Between January and October 2019, the national port system mobilized 77 thousand metric tons of cargo, a figure 11% higher than that reported in the same period of 2018.
According to figures from the General Comptroller of the Republic only last October reported a 3% year-on-year increase in cargo movement, rising from 7.5 million metric tons in the tenth month of 2018 to 7.8 million metric tons in the same period of 2019.