Overview

• Ricaurte Vasquez, head of the Panama Canal Authority, warned that a concentration of terminal operations under a single shipping company would undermine the waterway’s competitiveness and its neutral status.
• MSC, backed by the Aponte family, has become the lead investor in a $23 billion bid to acquire 43 ports from CK Hutchison, including the Balboa and Cristóbal terminals at each end of the canal.
• The transaction is awaiting Panamanian government approval and has been delayed by antitrust reviews conducted by US authorities and a probe opened by China’s market regulator.
• To safeguard neutrality and expand capacity, the Canal Authority is considering reactivating its stalled Corozal terminal project and evaluating a liquefied petroleum gas pipeline.
• President Trump has championed the deal as a means to curb Chinese influence on the canal, while Beijing’s state media and regulators have lodged formal objections.