According to USDA's Grain Transportation report, on September 26, the Panama Canal Authority tentatively plans to close the west lane of the Canal’s Gatun Panamax Locks for 3 hours to perform scheduled maintenance work.
During the outage, the locks’ daily transit capacity is estimated at 31-33 vessels—down from the normal capacity of 34-36 vessels.
On September 27, the west lane of the Pedro Miguel Locks is tentatively scheduled to close for 5 hours, reducing the locks’ daily transit capacity to 30-32 vessels (down from the normal capacity of 34-36 vessels per day).
On September 28, the lane is tentatively scheduled to close for 4 hours, reducing capacity to 31-33 vessels. No major delays are anticipated.
The locks’ exact transit capacity depends on vessel mix, transit restrictions, and other factors.
The majority of U.S. grain destined to Asia transits the canal.
Read the report here.