Ports of the Americas

Special Report

A Brazilian judge in July rejected a request from Maersk to halt the bidding process, according to Reuters, after the carrier in June sued Santos for being excluded.“ Excluding companies with broad international experience, responsible for managing some of the most efficient ports globally, without thorough studies to support such a decision, significantly diminishes the project’ s potential at Latin America’ s largest port,” Maersk said in a statement to Reuters.

The two-phase plan was also met with resistance from Brazil’ s Finance Ministry, who instead recommended the auction be held in one part, with the winning bidder required to divest assets if it already operates at the Port of Santos, Valor International reported on Aug. 22.

The planned terminal project has also raised concerns about whether Santos’ road network can handle the new volumes resulting from infrastructure growth.

“ While [ the new terminal ] may translate to improved vessel turnaround, upgrading the capacity of the road network around the port is also critical for the efficient operation of Brazil’ s largest container port,” Hadland said.

Some of those road network upgrades are already underway. The Santos-Guarujá Tunnel, an underwater tunnel that will serve commercial and passenger vehicles, will reduce the journey between the cities of Santos and Guarujá from about 40 kilometers in 40 minutes to less than one kilometer in just over one minute, Port of Santos Press Supervisor Paulo Silveira told the Journal of Commerce.

Portugal-based Mota-Engil is expected to begin construction of the tunnel later this year, Silveira said.

email: laura. robb @ spglobal. com

US tariffs to keep Panama Canal transits below capacity in 2026: ACP

By Laura Robb

Vessel transits through the Panama Canal( pictured) are expected to remain below 2022 levels next year. steve estvanik / Shutterstock. com

Daily transits of commercial vessels through the Panama Canal will remain below its capacity next year due to the tariff-linked frontloading of US imports this year and the softer demand the duties will cause on the East and Gulf coasts, according to the Panama Canal Authority( ACP).

The waterway has the capacity to handle 36 daily transits, but ACP Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez Morales told a Sept. 16 media briefing the daily average is projected to land at only 33 in 2026, still below levels seen before Panama’ s 2023 – 24 drought.

The frontloading of US imports to avoid higher tariffs is“ bread for today and hunger for tomorrow,” Morales said, adding the increased tariffs will raise product costs and dampen demand.

“ If we have to face [ another ] El Niño phenomenon, we are prepared.”

The canal saw an average of 32.5 daily transits in August, up from an average of 30.9 in 2024. It last hit its capacity of 36 daily transits on average in 2022. In both 2023 and 2024, low water levels drove the ACP to limit daily passages through the canal, including a low of 25 in November 2023.

ACP data shows container ships accounted for about 24 % of Panama Canal transits during the first eight months of 2025, but Morales said about 45 % of the canal’ s revenue comes from container vessels. The Panama Canal’ s fiscal year 2026 budget, approved in August, forecasts a 400-million-ton reduction in transits compared with the 2025 fiscal year, said Morales.

“ In this volatility, we need to be very careful not to generate bigger expectations than what we consider reasonable, because the Panama Canal revenue represents between 20 % and 25 % of overall Panamanian government revenue,” he said.

Other significant 2026 budget items include investments in the Río Indio Lake project, which would address low water concerns through the damming of a Panamanian river.

That project, which is expected to cost up to $ 1.6 billion, will take about four years to complete and is set to begin in 2027. In the meantime, Morales said the canal is better positioned to handle low water levels than it was in the past.

“ If we have to face [ another ] El Niño phenomenon, we are prepared,” he said.“ The frequency with which this phenomenon occurs is [ increasing ] and we need to be prepared for that type of condition.”

email: laura. robb @ spglobal. com

54 Journal of Commerce | October 6, 2025 www. joc. com