CONTAINER traffic through Panama fell 11.8 percent  between January and October this year.

The  5.1 million containers that  passed through the National Port System, was 689,000 containers less than in  the same period in 2015.

A report from the Comptroller  General  reveals that 10,871 vessels passed through the Panama Canal, 6.8 percent less than in 2015.

In toll revenues, the Panama Canal received $1.6 billion, 3.1 percent less than the previous year.

An analysis carried out by the Trade and Integration Sector of the Inter­American Development Bank (IADB) on world maritime transport warns that:

"The industry faces overcapacity and a sharp fall in freight rates. Bankruptcies ­ such as Hanjin Shipping ­ and the consolidation of the shipping industry in a few companies have reduced competition in the maritime

services market, in fact the new groupings will account for almost 75 percent of the global market,"

By the middle of this year, the World Trade Organization (WTO) reduced its forecast of world trade expansion to 1.7 percent from 2.8 percent. It also reduced its 2017 forecast to between 1.8 percent and 3.1 percent, from a previous projection of 3.6 percent