Opposition on the part of a port operator and residents in the area is preventing the development of a terminal that would speed up maritime traffic in the Panamanian Pacific and result in lower logistics costs.

The opposition that has been expressed by the current operator of the port of Balboa, on top of the legal actions filed by groups of residents, lawyers and environmental organizations, has prevented the ACP’s project to build a port in Corozal from advancing. The tender was declared void in March of last year, after having been postponed twice.   

The logistics sector insists on the need for the project to go ahead, arguing the benefits that the existence of a new port in the Pacific would have on tariffs and costs. 

See “An Indispensable Port in Corozal“

“…A third port on the Pacific side of Panama is long awaited by industry, not only by the domestic industry, but also of the international one,” said Demóstenes Pérez, president of the Logistics Business Council of Panama (COEL), a guild that brings together 17 business organizations.“

Prensa.com reports that “...Representatives of exporters state that in the Atlantic sector, where there is more port competition, it is cheaper to send cargo in containers than in the Pacific, where there is practically a monopoly controlled by PPC. One of the advantages that the construction of the container port in Corozal would have, apart from being at the entrance to the Canal, is the presence of the railroad, which connects the Pacific sector with the Atlantic sector.“

Although the ACP states that it will relaunch a second tender and is in dialogue with interested companies, it is still waiting for the Supreme Court of Justice to resolve nine legal appeals presented by PPC, law firms and residents.