News

The Panama Canal Authority continues to make big moves as it positions the waterway for the future. The latest announcement focused on plans to develop two new port terminals, one on the Pacific coast and one on the Atlantic.

The Canal Authority launched a consultation process “with representatives of the maritime industry to identify potential partners interested in developing port terminals on both the Atlantic and Pacific sides of the waterway.”

The $2.6 billion plan would create individual transshipment terminals to boost the country’s overall container-handling capacity from 9.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to 15 million TEUs annually.

The initial step will include market and feasibility studies for both terminals. Representatives from many of the industry’s biggest players participated in the initial presentation, including APM Terminals, Cosco Shipping Ports, DP World, Evergreen, Hapag Lloyd, Maersk Line, Yang Ming and the Port of Houston. (Side note: many of the companies on the list are PPR rental clients, supplying tenants to PPR-managed properties.)

This follows announcements to develop a liquid gas pipeline along the Canal route, as well as investments to grow the Canal’s capacity and efficiency.

The goal of the recent initiatives is to increase container transshipment capacity by 5 million TEUs (20-foot container units) per year and “strengthen Panama’s position as one of the world’s most competitive intermodal hubs,” the Canal Authority said.

The final phase of the concessionaire selection for the two new terminals is expected to conclude in the fourth quarter of 2026.