WHILE many see a cargo shift from the west to the east coast with an expanded Panama Canal, perishable shippers have noticed far-reaching benefit, reports London's Loadstar.
Reefer shippers can exploit expanded Panama Canal, says top US 3PLWHILE many see a cargo shift from the west to the east coast with an expanded Panama Canal, perishable shippers have noticed far-reaching benefit, reports London's Loadstar.
"Long term, it's likely that more carriers will use the Panama Canal region as a transshipment hub," said Gary York, director of global sourcing at Robinson Fresh, the fresh produce brand of global 3PL CH Robinson.
"Instead of sending a ship from Chile to multiple ports on the US east coast, these feeder vessels will discharge in Panama to larger postpanamax vessels that will then be able to carry containers from multiple origins, including Latin America.
"The same is true for Asia or European destinations, with containers from the Latin America region arriving in the Panama region on smaller vessels and transshipping to the much larger ships destined for Europe or Asia," said Mr York.
Research conducted last year by CH Robinson and Boston Consulting Group on the trade impacts of the canal expansion found that up to 10 per cent of container traffic to the US from East Asia could shift from west to east coast ports by 2020, adding that increased use of transshipment in the Caribbean could magnify this trend.
Caribbean ports will be hopeful of an upturn in transshipment cargo. Panama, in particular, is positioning itself as a regional transshipment and value-added logistics hub.
According to Drewry, Panama transshipment activity could jump by double digits following the canal expansion, with annual growth of five per cent a year thereafter.
At the canal's Pacific end, a new five million TEU container terminal will be built at Corozal to capitalise on the expected increase in transshipment traffic.
And while Panama could be a big beneficiary by operating as a regional hub for cold chain logistics services, some shippers will undoubtedly be concerned by longer transit times and the added handling risks associated with transhipment, Loadstar notes.