On the Atlantic side, volumes at Manzanillo International Terminal -Panama (MIT) were down 3.7% to 1.37m teu; Cristobal also registered a drop in volumes of 9.3% to 426,644 teu while Colon Container Terminal (CCT) operated by Taiwan’s Evergreen was the only terminal is showing growth, up 54.6% to 690.194 teu.

“The results of the first semester show a slowdown because of the restructuring of services of the shipping lines, and especially a general drop in imports and exports throughout Latin America,” said MIT general manager Manuel Pinzon.

“The consequences of the global supply chains disruptions remain, causing high average dwell times for transhipment cargo at terminals in the region and at MIT. This has been the trend during the first half of the year, and we don’t expect structural changes for the remainder of 2022,” he added.

At the Panama Canal Pacific entrance, all the terminals showed a decrease in volumes. Balboa, which is administrated by Panama Ports as well as Cristobal, registered a fall in cargo volumes of 9.3% to 1.07m teu and PSA-Panama was down 1.1% to 585,788 teu.

Bocas Fruit Co. in the province of Bocas del Toro saw its cargo dropped by 50.2% to 35,242 teu. The terminal handles shipments of bananas produced in Chiquita Panama’s farms and most of them are transported in refrigerated containers.

Source: https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/ports/panama-port-container-volumes-fall-17-h1