Panama’s mega port gets competition
Singapore’s PSA International wants to build a container port at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, Panama's Minister of Trade Alejandro Ferrer has confirmed. The company began negotiations with Parque Industrial Maritimo de Panama (PIMPSA) in July to buy the installations of the former US Rodman Navy base which it had under concession and from where it operates bunker supplies. Inside sources said that PSA plans to invest $120M to transform the terminal into a container facility. But some officials have said that the new port venture could delay Panama’s mega port project at the western entrance of the waterway which was announced in 2005. Ferrer believes the investments could complement each other, and says that all initiatives will be properly evaluated. Several international port operators, among them Japan's NYK, SSA Marine of the US, Denmark's APM Terminals and DP World had shown an interest in participating in the mega-port. Panamanian ports moved 3M TEU last year, mostly in transhipment. PIMPSA is owned by the Argentine group Liberman's LSI.
