Houston Prepares for Panama Canal Expansion
There is a rush on Houston warehouse space in anticipation of the Panama Canal expansion.
“Warehouses holding everything from beer kegs to frozen chickens crowd the roadside along Highway 146 south of Houston, and a ferocious building boom is adding acres more, thanks to an even bigger project 1,800 miles away in Panama,” according to the Reuters newswire.
Retailers like Wal-Mart and Home Depot have already snatched up land around the Houston ports. Houston is the closest U.S. port to the Panama Canal and U.S. imports from East Asian Nations are valued at approximately $410 billion a year.
The Houston port will spend over a billion to expand its Bayport Container Terminal and will buy giant cranes appropriate for unloading post-Panamax cargo ships.