Comment / Panama Canal risk requires route canal work

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Primer: US importers located anywhere from the Midwest eastwards have three routing options for their inbound container shipments from Asia: shipping via the Panama Canal to east coast ports; shipping via the Suez Canal to east coast ports; or shipping into US west coast ports and using the intermodal landbridge into central US railheads such as Chicago’s Joliet.

The worm is turning – and quickly – on the Asia-North America trades. The west coast is back in vogue and volumes have ...