According to a report by Nikkei on June 19, Panama Canal revenue for the fiscal year 2024 (October 2023 to September 2024) is expected to achieve a growth of 2.7%, potentially reaching a new record high. Although record-breaking drought has limited the number of navigable ships, the increase in "transit tolls" has still driven up total revenue.
The Panama Canal Authority predicts that total revenue for the fiscal year 2024 is expected to reach $5.102 billion.
The Panama Canal, which connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, is approximately 80 kilometers long, with a height difference of nearly 30 meters along the entire route. Since the canal uses a tiered lock system, large vessels require a significant amount of fresh water to raise or lower the water level to pass through.
Due to a severe shortage of fresh water in the summer of 2023, the number of ships able to transit per day was limited.
In the fiscal year 2023, the total revenue of the Panama Canal was about $4.968 billion, an increase of 14.9% compared to the fiscal year 2022. Although the number of ships transiting independently decreased by 1.5%, transit tolls, which account for about 70% of the canal's total revenue, still reached $3.348 billion, an increase of 10.6%.
As the navigation restriction problem persists over the long term, it has become commonplace for large vessels to wait in long queues to enter the canal.
The Panama Canal Authority has even started selling "queue-jumping rights," allowing ships that arrive later to pay for expedited passage. These ships, willing to incur higher costs to pass through the canal quickly, have driven up the bidding prices for transit slots.
According to Bloomberg News, in 2023, some ships even purchased transit slots at a bid price of $4 million.
Source: Reference News
//www.chinatradenews.com.cn/content/202406/26/c157417.html Editor: Ge Yan
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