Panama Ports: First in Latin America

Two Panamanian ports, Colón and Balboa, were among the three busiest in Latin America last year.

Colón on the Caribbean coast was the most active, with just over three million 20-foot containers, or about 35 million tons.

Balboa on the Pacific was Latin America’s third biggest port, behind only Santos in Brazil.

Panamanian ports showed a decline in activity of 5% over the previous year, due in large part to bad relations between Panama and Venezuela.

In Central America, third place went to Moin in Costa Rica, while Nicaragua’s Corinto was the least active port in the region.

Punta Arenas in southern Chile had the lowest level of traffic in Latin America.

The data, prepared by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (only in Spanish), covers 80 ports (figures in parentheses represent the ranking in Latin America of the six most active Central American ports).

1. Colón, Panama (1)
2. Balboa, Panama (3)
3. Moin, Costa Rica (14)
4. Cortés, Honduras (25)
5. Santo Tomas, Guatemala (28)
6. Puerto Barrios, Guatemala (34)