Why the Panama Canal is the biggest beneficiary of the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz

The Panama Canal has become an alternative shipping route along the Strait of Hormuz
Getty Images via BBC
When conflict breaks out, there is always someone who profits.
Since the start of the war in Iran on February 28, companies that sell oil and gas, large investment banks and the arms industry have been among the main beneficiaries.
The Panama Canal has also benefited from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the main shipping route for transporting fuel around the world.
"The conflict and insecurity in Hormuz forced the diversion of routes and the search for safe alternatives", explained Eduardo Lugo to BBC Mundo, president and executive director of the consultancy Maritime & Logistics Consulting Group. to grow 20%, according to the Panama Canal Authority.
And, just as demand for use of the canal has grown, prices have also increased.
The rates paid by ships depend on the size of the vessel, the volume of cargo and the type of product transported.

A gas transport ship, for example, paid US$4 million to cross the waterway.
Although this was an exceptional case, some prices to cross the canal doubled because there is a vacancy auction system that allows companies without advance reservations to cross more quickly.
In this mechanism, the final price paid by a company is directly linked to the urgency of reaching the destination.
The financial director of the Panama Canal Authority, Víctor Vial, told BBC News Mundo (the service in BBC Spanish) that the increase in traffic and the additional resources obtained in auctions indicate that revenue growth "will be between 10% and 15%, although it remains to be seen how long this situation will last". Panama to transport its products to Asian countries
Bloomberg via Getty Images/BBC
Asian buyers
Amid the energy crisis, ships carrying oil and liquefied natural gas have been partially displacing container ships, reefer ships and grain carriers in recent weeks, as buyers drive demand for crude oil.
"What is really happening is that energy from the United States is replacing the volumes that once were shipped to Asia from cargo from the Gulf," explains Marc Gilbert, global leader of the Center for Geopolitics at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a leading shipping, cargo and logistics consultancy.
American oil cargoes passing through the Panama Canal are close to reaching their highest level in four years, as Asian refiners try to secure supplies amid a conflict whose end no one knows when.
Using the canal has increased shipping costs for several reasons, Gilbert told BBC News World.
The journey from the United States to Asian destinations is much longer, the crossing toll is higher and the increasing delays at the canal locks, the expert points out, make the operation more expensive compared to the journey through the Strait of Hormuz.
What this situation is showing, says Gilbert, is that when a sea route fails, the entire system needs to adapt.
In these circumstances, he says, companies need to pay more attention to diversifying not just the routes maritime, but all means of transport used.
In addition, this is the time to review storage capacity and stockpiling, in addition to incorporating technologies to instantly share data on the location of ships.
Just as occurred during the pandemic and as is happening now with the war in Iran, the balance of global supply chains can be fragile - and any disruption causes effects that are difficult to predict.
The importance of the canal for Panama's economy
Although it is not the country's main source of wealth, the Panama canal is one of its great economic engines.
This route, just 80 kilometers wide, which connects the Atlantic with the Pacific, carries around 3% of all global maritime trade.
The canal and the commercial activities that revolve around it are one of the country's economic engines.
AFP via Getty Images/BBC
In recent history, the canal has gone through difficult times, such as in 2023, when the country faced an unprecedented drought that affected maritime traffic.
Today, however, the climate has worked in its favor, and the rains have made it possible to better respond to the sudden increase in demand caused by the war in Iran.
And, when the canal obtains better results, the Panamanian economy benefits.
This happens because the Constitution of Panama establishes that the canal must transfer its economic surpluses - that is, net profits - to the National Treasury every year after covering costs

of operations, investments, operation and maintenance, among others.
In fiscal year 2025, the channel generated revenues of around US$5.7 billion. Of this total, the direct contribution to the Panamanian public coffers was approximately US$3 billion.
In relation to Panama's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the canal represented a direct contribution of 3.4%.
At first glance, it may not seem like much, but the benefits that the maritime route brings to the country also include indirect contributions related to the entire logistics industry that revolves around the canal, in addition to port and railway activities and the trade generated by the Free Trade Zone. Colón.
Although trade is the backbone of the Panamanian economy, the canal is a fundamental piece for the functioning of this entire mechanism.
And, if this year it generates more revenue and greater net profits than in the past, the country will receive an injection of resources that was not foreseen - transforming the crisis in the Middle East into an opportunity.

Source: G1

Continue lendo

27/05/2026

Income Tax 2026: deadline ends this week and live program answered questions

Income Tax 2026: deadline ends this week and live program answered questions By next Friday, the Federal Revenue expec...

27/05/2026

River Plate x Blooming: time and where to watch the South American game

River Plate and Blooming face each other this Wednesday (27), at 9:30 pm (Brasília time), in a game valid for the sixt...

27/05/2026

Group urges US diplomats to leave countries amid Ebola outbreak

AFSA (American Foreign Service Association), which represents US diplomats, asked this Wednesday (27) that American fo...

Top Cifras

Toque agora.

1 Mi Cocodrilo Verde Caetano Veloso

2 Sem Saber Pique Novo

3 Q Não tem solidão Querendo Mais

4 Ayahuasca Luz Divina Edu Pajé