As business and civic leaders from the south Louisiana Super Region visit Panama this week on a four-day canvas trip, they’re learning about the country’s rapid growth, economic issues, infrastructure challenges and recent Panama Canal expansion.
Earlier this year, a decade-long, $5.25 billion expansion of the canal was completed, doubling the 102-year-old waterway’s capacity.
But how much will the Panama Canal expansion directly impact south Louisiana’s ports?
No one can say for certain, but the increase will not be huge, likely increasing the amount of cargo somewhere between 5% and 15%, according to local port and economic development officials. While that’s significant, it’s not a game-changer.
Paul Aucoin, executive director of the Port of South Louisiana, says estimates he’s seen put the increase in bulk cargo at his port, which covers 54 miles along the river from St. Charles to St. James Parish, at around 15%.
“That’s if we do nothing,” Aucoin says, citing a study completed last year.
However, the Port of South Louisiana, which is the largest grain port in the world, isn’t doing nothing. The port is currently working on a market study to determine the viability of a new container port in LaPlace. An earlier feasibility study suggested the proposed $66 million project is doable. A more in-depth market study is the next step in getting the project financed, Aucoin says.
Regardless of whether the new container port becomes a reality down the line, other studies have suggested that south Louisiana’s six deep-draft ports will see a tonnage increase of between 5% and 10% with the canal expansion, according to GNO Inc. President and CEO Michael Hecht. That’s because while the wider, deeper Panal Canal can accommodate the new, larger, “neo-Panamex” vessels that carry as many as 15,000 standard shipping containers, the draft of those mega vessels is too deep to enter the Mississippi River.
Still, the expansion of the canal will not only double the volume of cargo passing through the waterway, but will reduce bottlenecks and lower transit times. As a result, more cargo will be offloaded onto smaller vessels at ports in Jamaica and Cuba that will then travel to the Gulf of Mexico and up the river, which is a good thing for south Louisiana.
“More cargo will be getting here more quickly,” Aucoin says. “So that’s more business for us.”
—Stephanie Riegel
