Panama Canal posts record cargo year on Hormuz diversion

The Panama Canal moved a record 521 million tons of cargo in fiscal 2026, up 6.5 percent from a year earlier, as shipping diverted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz lifted transits to 13,951 despite El Niño drought cuts late in the year.

Why it matters: The record shows how much global trade rerouted through Panama while Hormuz was closed, and the drought cuts that followed show the canal's freshwater supply is now the binding limit on that relief route.

Data as of Panama Canal Authority fiscal 2026 results release of October 21, 2026, read in full, for the transit, tonnage and revenue figures; AFP report of October 21, 2026, read in full in syndication, for the record comparison and the administrator's Hormuz remarks. The story first appeared in the feed queue via Folha de S.Paulo, in Portuguese; the Folha article itself could not be opened in full. Developing item.

The Panama Canal handled 13,951 transits in fiscal 2026, which ran from October 2025 through September 2026, up 4.1 percent from 13,404 a year earlier, with tonnage reaching 521 million PC/UMS tons, up 6.5 percent from 489.2 million, and total revenue rising 16.6 percent to B/. 6.6 billion, the Panama Canal Authority reported on Wednesday. AFP reported that the 521 million tons is a record, above the 518 million tons set in fiscal 2022, and that administrator Ilya Espino de Marotta attributed a surge in traffic to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, for which the canal raised its daily transit limit from 36 to 41 vessels for a period. El Niño drought then cut into that gain: the authority reduced daily transits to 32 in early October as its reservoir lakes fell, and on Wednesday it reinstated its Last-Minute Reservation service for the Panamax locks, citing water conservation and rainfall nearing average levels.

Panama Canal posts record cargo year on Hormuz diversion

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