The Panama Canal is a 51 mile long waterway that allows ships to cut about 8,000 miles off of a trip from New York to San Francisco around the route around Cape Horn.

The country of Panama owns the canal, which is operated by the Panama Canal Authority, an agency of the Panamanian government, but who owns the ports located on either side of the canal?

Until now, it has been CK Hutchison, a Hong Kong based firm - raising concerns about China’s interest and influence in the supply chain critical Panama canal. On March 4th, it was announced that CK Hutchison had decided to sell two of the largest Panama Canal adjacent ports to BlackRock. 

In this episode of Art of Supply, Kelly Barner looks at this story up close:

• The critical role that the Panama Canal plays in global supply chains
• The details of the deal that will transfer ownership of the ports: Balboa (on the Pacific side) and Cristóbal (on the Atlantic side) 
• The diplomatic policy shift this represents with regard to China’s presence in the area and relationship with the country of Panama

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