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Panama Canal Expansion Drives East Coast Port Boom
The expanded Panama Canal is reshaping trade routes since completion in June 2016 of the $5.4-billion, nine-year project. The larger locks have handled more than 2,000 vessels previously too big to pass through the canal.
In addition to increased toll revenue, a trading boom has emerged for U.S. East Coast ports, which made investments to handle the larger cargo ships. The Panama Canal is attracting ships away from the Suez Canal, which has experienced a sharp drop off. Ports on the West Coast have also seen container volume slip.
The Panama Canal’s transiting tonnage has increased by nearly 23% this year, driven in part because it can be cheaper for inland importers to bring products from Asia to ports like New York, Savannah, GA, and Charleston, SC. Roughly two-thirds of goods into the U.S. from Asia had previously been moved by rail and truck from West Coast ports.
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