business

How much will the market bear when it comes to Panama Canal tolls? If you listened to the warnings of certain people in the shipping industry over the past several years, we passed that point a while back. If you judge it by the tonnage of cargo that passes through the waterway, the toll increases about which dire warnings were made back then did not prevent the canal from breaking its two-month tonnage record this past October and November.

There are alternatives to the Panama Canal and as the world's port, railroad and highway facilities grow --- not to mention the possibility of other waterways opening --- there will be more of them. It would be imprudent indeed to presume that the Panama Canal could raise its tolls to any level without running the risk of pricing itself out of the market.

But so far the canal's toll structure has not driven away its most important customers, and now the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) administration is planning a record toll series of toll hikes and betting that it will increase revenue without driving shipping to other routes.

The proposed increase, for container ships only, would change rules and methods of measurement, effectively raising tolls by two-thirds over three years. If things go as proposed, starting in May shippers would pay an extra $11 each 20-foot container (or its industry standard TEU equivalent) that transits the canal. Container ships would be charged according to the on-deck capacity to accomodate containers, whether or not that capacity is used. In instances where containers on the deck partly obstruct the view of the pilot on the bridge, a second pilot would have to be employed at the shippers' expense.

The toll increases, which must be approved by the Cabinet Council, will be discussed at a January 7 public hearing in the auditorium at the Centro de Capacitacion Ascanio Arosemena (former Balboa High School).

If the new container rate structure goes into effect as expected --- the cabinet has never rejected or reduced an ACP rate hike request --- the canal expects to boost its revenues by some $40 million per year.



Also in this section:
Canal toll hike for container ships
Darien coastal management study
Organic farming boom in Costa Rica
Business & Economy Briefs

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