중남미

The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of alternative Panama Canal toll rates in shipping soybeans from major exporting countries to major importing regions and countries in the world soybean trade. The study is designed to analyze the role of the Panama Canal on U.S. exports of soybeans to the Asian soybean market, focusing on the impacts of toll rates on U.S. exports of soybeans since the canal is a gateway to Gulf ports to the market. A single commodity spatial equilibrium model for the world soybean industry is developed for this study in order to address the problems faced by soybean exporting countries, especially the United States. One base model and several alternative scenarios for toll rates are developed to accomplish the objectives. The objectives are accomplished by comparing the result for the base scenario with alternative scenarios.The Panama Canal enhances soybean trade between major exporting countries and major importing countries. Without the canal, total ocean transportation costs would increase as the canal is one of the major soybean shipping routes. Since the Gulf ports are the closest export ports to the Panama Canal and handle significant quantities exported from the ports, the changes in quantities exported from the ports through the canal is sensitive to the changes in the toll rates. The economic value can be estimated by comparing the total transportation costs when the toll rates are too high so that there are no shipments through the canal and when the toll rates are zero so that shipments pass through the canal without any tolls.