The Panama Canal breaks record in ship transit in 2022
At the end of fiscal year 2022, 14,239 ships passed through the Panama Canal, of which 13,009 are deep-draft vessels (panamax and neopanamax) and 1,230 small vessels, according to preliminary figures from the Panama Canal Administration (ACP). The results show that for this last fiscal year, the transit of ships through the Canal reported a significant growth of approximately 897 ships, compared to the period 2021 (13,342 ships), despite the global trade crisis due to failures in the supply chain and ports caused by the covid-19 pandemic, and now aggravated by the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Source: La Estrella de Panamá
14,239 vessels crossed the interoceanic waterway during fiscal year 2022, of which 13,009 are deep-draft vessels (panamax and neopanamax). Some segments, such as bulk carriers, oil tankers and liquefied natural gas, had a decrease. The Panama Canal is the main shipping route for energy exports from the United States to Asian destinations.PhotographerThe Star of Panama
At the end of fiscal year 2022, 14,239 ships passed through the Panama Canal, of which 13,009 are deep-draft vessels (panamax and neopanamax) and 1,230 small ships, according to preliminary figures from the Panama Canal Administration (ACP). The results show that for this last fiscal year, the transit of ships through the Canal reported a significant growth of approximately 897 ships, compared to the period 2021 (13,342 ships), despite the global trade crisis due to failures in the supply chain and ports caused by the covid-19 pandemic, and now aggravated by the war between Russia and Ukraine.
During the recent fiscal year, 13,009 deep-draft commercial ships passed through the canal, 478 more (+3.8%) than the figures reported in the previous period (12,525), the statistics show. Of the 13,009 deep-draft ships that crossed the interoceanic waterway between October 1, 2021 and September 30, 2022 (period that covers the fiscal year of the Canal), 9,384 vessels were Panamax (72%) and 3,619 neopanamax (28%).By market segment , most of the large vessels that transited through the canal territory were bulk carriers (2,910), although their transit fell 4.4% compared to the previous fiscal year (3,043).
These are followed by container ships with 2,822 transits, an increase of 8.5% compared to the figures for 2021; Of the chemical tankers transited 2,332 (+15.8%); liquefied petroleum gas 1,501 (-1.4%); vehicle carriers/roro with 746 transits (-4.6%). And general cargo ships crossed 645, showing an increase of 30.6%, while oil tankers transited 607 ships (-4.1%); refrigerated 604 (+7.1%); liquefied natural gas (LNG) 374 or -30.4%; another 335 (-9.2%) ; passengers 127 (+746.7%). The sharp drop in the transit of ships carrying LNG is attributed by the Canal Authority to weak Asian demand for US LNG and limited exports from the US Gulf Coast. The Panama Canal is the main shipping route for US energy exports to Asian destinations.
“Much of the US Gulf Coast LNG that traditionally went to Asia is being diverted to Europe,” ACP Deputy Administrator Ilya Espino de Marotta said in a MasContainer post. From 2021 to September 30, 2022, 518 million tons of CP-Suab (Panama Canal universal system for measuring ships) crossed the Panamanian highway, mainly containers, grains, chemicals and liquefied petroleum gas. Of the total tonnage of the cargo that passed through the interoceanic route in this last period, 516 million were transported in deep draft ships (panamax and neopanamax); and 409 thousand tons in small vessels. During the 2021 fiscal period, 56 million tons of cargo transited through the Canal and in 2020 it totaled 475 million, despite the slowdown in the economy and trade due to the covid-19 pandemic. Animal/vegetable oils and fats, grains (rice, barley, corn, sorghum, soybeans, beans and wheat), wood and wood products, iron and steel manufactures, machinery and equipment, minerals (copper, iron, manganese, lead and zinc, among others), metals (aluminum, scrap, copper, iron, metals, lead and zinc and others), oil and its derivatives, chemicals and petrochemicals are among the main goods transported through the Canal.
Among the 15 main countries by cargo flow, the United States is the largest user of the Canal, whose cargo (215 million tons) represents 73.7% of the total merchandise that passes through the Panamanian interoceanic waterway. This is followed by China with a 21.4% share of the cargo flow that passes through the Canal, Japan 13.3%, Chile 10.4%, South Korea 9.9%, Mexico 8.2%. , Peru 6.6% and Colombia 5.7%. While Ecuador's share of cargo flow is 5.0%, Panama 4.1%, Canada 3.6%, Guatemala 3.2%, Taiwan 2.3%, Holland (Netherlands) 1.9%, and Spain 1.7%, respectively.
Toll revenues from registered vessel traffic during fiscal year 2022 totaled $3,028 million; in 2021 they amounted to $2,968 million and in 2020 to $2,663 million. The good behavior of the tonnage of cargo that passes through the Canal, according to the ACP, is due to the fact that the ships are getting larger and cross the maritime route with the largest possible number of containers to achieve more efficiency in your transport costs.