MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Panama Canal forecasts 5% drop in cargo tonnage

The global slowdown have influenced estimates of the Panama Canal Authority, CAP, which now forecasts a 5% drop in cargo tonnage going through the waterway in 2008-2009. This represents a decrease close to 19.9 million tons, leaving a total of 294.1 million.

ACP Marketing Director Rodolfo Sabonge told the press that the forecasts are nonetheless subject to the way the United States and other countries stricken by the world financial crisis manage to reactivate their economies. The ACP said that ship traffic going through the canal was also affected by high fuel costs and the devaluation of the dollar. The canal closed the 2008 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, with a total of 14,702 crossings, or 12.9% less than the previous year. But toll revenues in 2008 totalled 1.32 billion USD, an increase of 11.3% over the previous year. Since the United States transferred the canal to Panama on December 31, 1999, up to the fiscal year 2008, the ACP has collected some 10.8 billion, of which it has turned over to the government 3.27 billion. The United States, which administered the canal between 1904 and 1999, gave Panama some 1.5 billion in all those years for the use of its privileged geographic position between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.