Americas News
Panama Posts 23% Jump in Annual Bunker Sales
Data released by the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) indicates annual bunker sales for 2015 rose almost 23 percent year-on-year to 25,785,345 barrels for all products - about 3.5 million metric tonnes (mt).
This compares to the 20,970,418 barrels, approximately 2.9 million mt, reported for 2014.
For 2015 the country's Pacific coast, encompassing the port of Balboa, accounted for the majority of sales with 19,950,363 barrels for all products - about 2.7 million mt.
The Atlantic coast, with the port of Cristobal, took the balance of 5,834,982 barrels - about 0.8 million mt.
For 2015 growth on the Atlantic coast outpaced its Pacific counterpart however, growing 31 percent year-on-year from the 4,447,194 barrels sold in 2014 - approximately 0.6 million mt.
This compared with growth of almost 21 percent for the Pacific coast, rising from 16,523,225 barrels (about 2.3 million mt) for all products in 2014.
The latest numbers also showed evidence of the impact on bunker sales from the January 1, 2015 introduction of a 0.10 percent sulfur cap for bunkers used within North American and European Emissions Control Areas (ECAs), even though Panama does not itself reside in such a zone.
Distillate sales accounted for 7.0 percent of sales in 2014, compared to 12.6 percent in 2015.
As Ship & Bunker reported last September, some local players have suggested the actual growth in bunker sales volumes could be less than official data suggests, with improved data collection methods last year potentially meaning 2014's numbers were understated.
