Americas News
Panama Posts Continued Improvement in Bunker Sales Volume
The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) has reported another month of substantially improved bunker sales volumes, with the latest data released Tuesday indicating a September sales total of 2,123,376.23 barrels, or approximately 292,000 metric tonnes (mt), for all products.
The total, which is the combined total across both coasts, is a 23 percent increase on the 1,724,079.34 barrels (about 237,150 mt) reported for the period in 2014.
Of September 2015's total, 1,594,576.73 barrels (about 219,300 mt) were made on the Pacific coast, with the balance of 528,799.50 barrels (about 72,700 mt) made on the Atlantic coast.
The result means the country has posted, on average, a 35 percent year-on-year improvement in monthly bunker sales for the first nine months of 2015.
However it has been previously suggested that the sales volume data in earlier years has been underrepresented, and the jump in official data for 2015 might be a product of improved data collection.
Earlier this week Ship & Bunker reported that HKND Group (HKND) said its plan to build a $50-billion alternative to the Panama Canal in Nicaragua, a move that could eat into Panama's bunker market, can "move forward with full speed" after being issued with an "Environmental Permit."
