Panama Canal to enter ports business as Trump-China feud simmers
The Panama Canal Authority expects to open a tender to operate a port on the Atlantic coast and another on the Pacific, both of which would connect to a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) pipeline. They would be owned by the canal and likely operated by a third party, Ricaurte Vasquez, head of the authority, said on Monday (Aug 11) in New York.
'We are coming into the game of port terminals,' Vasquez said.
Panama's ports have drawn intense scrutiny from Washington in recent months. US President Donald Trump has criticised Chinese influence over the canal, threatening to take back the waterway and falsely alleging that Beijing controls it. Panama President Jose Raul Mulino has repeatedly defended the canal as a Panamanian operation over which the country exercises full sovereignty.
Though China has no role in operating the canal, Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings has operated ports on the Atlantic and Pacific sides.
The canal authority's plan to own ports is part of US$8.5 billion in capital spending it's proposing over the next seven years, including the LPG pipeline, a new water reservoir and roads and highways. Existing ports run by CK Hutchison subsidiary Panama Ports, located outside the canal's jurisdiction, were concessioned in 1997 and use old technology.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign Up
Sign Up
The Panama Canal will seek to use newer crane technology that moves cargo more efficiently, and compete with the more modern Port of Cartagena in nearby Colombia, Vasquez said.
'We believe we can leapfrog that situation, and we can try to do it differently,' Vasquez said.
The decision comes as Mulino said that his administration will draft a national maritime logistics strategy to determine a new framework for port operations in Panama. The country's comptroller has filed suit against a contract extension with CK Hutchison's local unit, potentially complicating the conglomerate's plan to sell its global terminals business to a consortium involving BlackRock.
The Panama Canal is seeing an unexpected windfall this year due to new US tariffs. Shippers of semi-manufactured goods and automobiles rushed to import products to the US before duties took full effect, helping boost canal revenues. The canal authority expects the front-loading of cargo to dissipate in the next fiscal year beginning in October, and forecasts revenue of around US$4.4 billion next year, below roughly US$5 billion this year, Vasquez said.
More plentiful rainfall this year has allowed the canal authority to maintain a draft of 15 metres, which will likely continue till the end of the year, he said. A severe drought in the previous two years forced the canal to limit transits and use new water-saving techniques. BLOOMBERG
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
7 hours ago
- Straits Times
Former China envoy to Singapore Sun Haiyan reappears after reported questioning
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox A source familiar with the situation told ST on Aug 15 that Ms Sun Haiyan had been uncontactable for several days. Former Chinese ambassador to Singapore Sun Haiyan was likely questioned by the authorities earlier in August in connection with a probe into her superior, Mr Liu Jianchao, but she has since returned to work, The Straits Times understands. A smiling Ms Sun, 53, appeared at an event organised by the Indian embassy in Beijing on Aug 15 evening, suggesting that she is not necessarily implicated in whatever trouble Mr Liu could be in. The Wall Street Journal had reported on Aug 10 that Mr Liu, who heads the Communist Party of China International Department (CPCID) and was seen as a front runner to become foreign minister, had been taken away for questioning after he returned to Beijing in late July from a work trip overseas. The reason for his detention remains unclear. Reuters then reported on Aug 15 that Ms Sun was also detained , citing three people with knowledge of the matter. As at Aug 15, both Mr Liu and Ms Sun remain listed as the minister and vice-minister of the CPCID on its website. The department manages the party's ties with foreign political parties. A source familiar with the situation told ST on Aug 15 that Ms Sun had been uncontactable for several days, often a sign that someone has been taken in for questioning by the authorities. But the source also noted that it is standard procedure for the authorities to question those who have worked closely with a person under investigation, and that this does not in itself imply wrongdoing. Another source said on the afternoon of Aug 15 that Ms Sun was 'working normally' and that news of her attending a diplomatic event that day 'would be out soon'. That evening, Mr Wang Zichen, a research fellow at the Beijing-based Centre for China and Globalisation, posted photos of Ms Sun at an ongoing reception in Beijing marking India's Independence Day. She stood next to Chinese Foreign Vice-Minister Miao Deyu in a crowded ballroom, the photos showed. Ms Sun, a Hebei native, holds a doctorate in law from Peking University and has studied at Japan's Kyushu University. She joined the International Department in 1997, serving various roles including as spokesperson and head of the bureau responsible for ties with South-east Asian countries. She served as ambassador to Singapore from May 2022 to July 2023.
Business Times
8 hours ago
- Business Times
PBOC to boost financing support for tech, consumption growth
[BEIJING] China's central bank pledged to strengthen financial support to key areas including tech and consumption, as it moves further away from its previous playbook of funnelling loans to traditional industries such as real estate and infrastructure. The country's credit structure has undergone profound changes over the past decade, with the key driver for new loan growth shifting away from asset-heavy industries to the so-called five key priority sectors, the People's Bank of China said in its quarterly monetary policy report published on Friday (Aug 15). The five key priority financing sectors – including high-technology, small- and medium-sized enterprise, and elderly care – accounted for about 70 per cent of new loan growth during the first half of 2025. By contrast, real estate and infrastructure accounted for more than 60 per cent of the growth in 2016, according to the report. Going forward, the financial system will continue to uphold its fundamental mission of serving the real economy, and the central bank will centre its support on technological innovation and consumption expansion, the PBOC said. 'Efforts will be made to continuously optimise the credit structure, better align credit supply with economic restructuring and dynamic balance, and further meet the effective financing needs of the real economy,' the PBOC said in the report. The report came as the country's economy slowed across the board in July. Factory activity, investment and retail sales disappointed, suggesting spillovers from Donald Trump's tariffs are casting a pall over the world's No 2 economy. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up China's first contraction in outstanding loans since 2005 has deepened worries about a downturn in the economy. Analysts generally expect the PBOC to roll out monetary easing in the fourth quarter, following cuts to interest rates and banks' reserve requirement ratio in May. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have in recent weeks shifted their attention to addressing the challenge of deflation and price wars. When it comes to China's fight against deflation, the PBOC is in a bind. Officials have limited room for conventional monetary easing such as rate cuts. The central bank is also looking to maintain a stable exchange rate and protect narrowing profit margins among lenders, which constrains its ability to loosen policy. In May, the PBOC called for coordinated measures to boost inflation, arguing that increasing money supply under an investment and production-led economic model could instead worsen the supply-demand imbalance. BLOOMBERG
Straits Times
11 hours ago
- Straits Times
Singapore shares fall again on US inflation worries, Trump-Putin peace talks; STI down 0.6%
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The Straits Times Index closed down 0.6 per cent or 25.99 points to 4,230.53. SINGAPORE – Local shares fell again on Aug 15 as investors stuck to the sidelines amid US inflation concerns and the Ukraine war peace talks in Alaska. It was something of a lacklustre session with the Straits Times Index (STI) down 0.6 per cent or 25.99 points to 4,230.53 while losers beat gainers 302 to 233 on much-reduced trade of 1.4 billion securities worth $1.6 billion. Swissquote Bank senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya noted that US companies have largely absorbed tariff costs so far but this could change if higher prices are passed on to consumers. She added that markets see a 93 per cent chance of a 25-basis-point cut by the US Federal Reserve in September: 'The White House pressure is mounting, and the September rate cut looks inevitable, come hell or high water.' Regional indexes were mixed as Japan's GDP figures beat forecasts, while Chinese economic data fell short of expectations. Japan's Nikkei 225 ended 1.7 per cent higher, Shanghai stocks rose 0.8 per cent and South Korea's Kospi remained flat while Malaysian shares fell 0.3 per cent and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong slipped 1 per cent. Australia was the standout. The ASX 200 added 0.7 per cent to make it five record closes in succession, putting the 9,000-point mark in reach. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Ong Beng Seng fined $30k in case linked to ex-minister Iswaran after judge cites judicial mercy Singapore Why was Ong Beng Seng fined instead of jailed? Key points from the case Asia Sun Haiyan, ex-China ambassador to S'pore, detained for questioning: Sources Life Online travel agencies Klook and make debut at Natas Travel Fair Singapore Jail for drink-driving cop in hit-and-run accident; victim suffered multiple fractures Life How do household bomb shelters in Singapore really work? The gains came despite a middling session on Wall Street underpinned by reports that said US inflation at the wholesale level came in at 0.9 per cent in July, the largest monthly increase in more than three years. Investors were not rattled and left the three indexes largely unchanged. The STI here was hit by UOB, which fell 2.8 per cent to $35.34. The other local banks also slipped: DBS shed 1.2 per cent to $49.90; and OCBC edged down 0.1 per cent to $16.90. UOB and DBS went ex-dividend on Aug 15.
