Panama sees strong shipping container growth

PANAMA CITY, June 18 (Reuters) - Panama expects its shipping container volumes to increase by around 10 percent next year despite the downturn in the U.S. economy, the country's maritime authority said on Wednesday.

The authority sees Panama's ports handling 5.6 million 20-foot (6.1 meter) shipping containers in 2009, up from around 5 million this year and 4.1 million in 2007.

Panama has seen shipping volumes nearly double since 2006 on increasing Chinese demand for raw materials as well as growing exports in finished goods from the world's most populous country.

"Latin America faces a great challenge because maritime transportation is growing at an accelerated rate, and so we must create infrastructure that can meet existing demand," maritime authority chief Fernando Solorzano told an industry meeting in the Panamanian capital.

Panama has earmarked around $1.6 billion for upgrading current facilities. China's state-owned shipping giant China Ocean Shipping, COSCO (600428.SS), has expressed interest in building a new mega-port at the Panama Canal's Pacific entrance.

Panama handles around 40 percent of Latin America's containers via its U.S.-built, 50 mile (80-km) canal between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. (Reporting by Andrew Beatty; editing by Carol Bishopric)