Ep 134: The Complexity of Navigating the Panama Canal feat. Kris Lance

40 percent of all U.S. shipping containers travel through the Panama Canal each year, representing an annual cargo value of $270 Billion. It is the shortest operational ocean route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and plays a critical role in U.S. supply chains and those of global trading partners as well.

In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes back Kris Lance, Senior Director at Una, for a recurring monthly conversation about current news stories. Kris has experience in multiple industries and has his finger on the pulse of the trends and topics that procurement, sourcing, and supply chain professionals need to be aware of.

In this conversation, Kris and Kelly talk about recent news stories associated with the Panama canal, some of which are getting a lot of attention and others almost none at all:

• Drought conditions have led authorities to reduce traffic through the canal, leaving as many as 200 ships stuck waiting to get through
• Other opportunities for Panama to be a strategic partner to the United States, including semiconductor production
• Geopolitical risk associated with the safety and ownership of the Panama canal given recent activity from China and Iran

Links:

• Kris Lance on LinkedIn
• Episode 130: Building and Understanding Trust with Kris Lance
• Episode 125: When Implanted Neuro Chips Are Top of Mind with Kris Lance
• Episode 121: Agriculture as a Political Hot Topic with Kris Lance