More than 350 attendees at the U.S. Grains Council 14th International Marketing Conference & 57th Annual Membership Meeting in Panama City, Panama, toured the Agua Clara locks in Colon, Panama.

“When USGC last met in Panama, the canal expansion was only a construction site,” said Chip Councell, USGC chairman and a grain farmer in Maryland. “Visiting the new locks reflects the long-term commitment of the council and its members to enabling more and expanded trade opportunities for American agriculture.”

Before the tour, meeting attendees in a general session were welcomed to the region by USGC Western Hemisphere Regional Director Marri Carrow and Erik Hansen, agricultural counselor at the U.S. Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica.

They also witnessed Councell and Manuel Benitez, Panama Canal deputy administrator, sign a formal memorandum of understanding between the two organizations on the importance of the Panama Canal to U.S. grain trade. 

Benitez offered the farmers, agribusiness representatives and others in the audience an extensive briefing on the Panama Canal expansion, which opened on June 30, 2016.

Sixty-nine percent of all cargo traveling through the Panama Canal originates from or is destined for the United States, including roughly one-third of total U.S. grain exports, Benitez told the crowd. The new set of locks will open opportunities for larger and more efficient shipments of all products.

Delegates will also have the opportunity to visit the Miraflores locks, where ships cross below the Bridge of the Americas that connects North and South America.

Source: U.S. Grains Council