The Panama crisis affects trade and logistics in the region

Blockade of the road for more than a week in Panama By rejecting mining contracts, it cut off the country’s trade with Central America and affected its logistics system, closely linked to South American trade, in a crucial season for supplying goods to Christmas and New Yearsector leaders told EFE this Wednesday.

Panama is home to the Interoceanic Canal, through which about 3% of world trade passes; into the Colón Free Zone, the largest on the continent, and has a relevant logistics hub or “hub” in the region, with ports on the coasts Atlantic and Pacificwhich serves many South American countries in addition to Central America.

The main border crossing to Central America is collapsing
Blockades in Chiriqui Bridgelocated 800 meters from the border between Panama and Costa Rica, traffic is collapsing in Paso Canoas, the most important customs office between the two countries and through which goods from all over the world go to the rest of the country. Central America.

More than 1,000 trucks are accumulating in the border area, according to sources cargo transportation from Panama and Costa Rica.

On the border with Costa Rica “There is no passage. Panama customs has informed Costa Rican customs that they will no longer allow the equipment (for freight transport) to enter because there is no room for it,” the head of the National Chamber of Freight Transport told EFE ., Roberto Araúz.

Statement from National Customs Administration The Panamanian explained on Tuesday that the “entry or exit” of cargo trucks in Paso Canoas is not possible “due to the blockade of the Chiriquí bridge”, and that there is no longer a physical place to wait in the area.

Per Paso Canoas goes to Central America goods from Colon-free zone and from various Panamanian ports, as well as Central American medical products and manufacturing enter Panama.

The containers are immobilized, and the Free Zone is paralyzed
Former president in Colón Free Zone User Association, Daniel Rojashe assured EFE this Wednesday that “for more than 8 days, containers cannot be moved between the Pacific and Atlantic ports” due to blockades on the two routes used for this.

And the railroad, “which is a large carrier of transfer containers that make connections between Atlantic and Pacific and vice versa, she couldn’t work all the time, and she was stopped for 5 days,” said Rojas.

“Every day we have more than 6 million dollars in losses Free zone is practically stopped, and at the worst time of the year, because we are in the crucial weeks of delivering containers to the ports so that they can reach their destination for the annual vacation at the end of the year,” said Rojas.

This situation affects the countries of Central America, which could see a way out Mexico as a supplier of demand, and also in South America.

“We have a relationship with everyone South America. Many ships with goods for South America do not pass through the canal”, and in Panama it is transshipped by land between ports Atlantic and Pacific“and that is not happening now” because of the internal crisis.

“At the rate we’re going, what we’re going to do is lose the global positioning that we had as logistics center of America. And this is the most serious problem because logistics represents 30% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of this country. “That’s what we’re putting into play.”