The presence and connectivity of several logistics assets such as railway, ports and airports, leverage the establishment of special areas for the logistics operations of cargo handling and storage.  The country has special economic zones, logistics parks and free zones, seeking to increase the national logistics connectivity, through the facilitation of trade areas.

Especial economic areas offer a variety of tax, migratory and labor incentives to promote the establishment of a variety of sectors to encourage trade, manufacturing and related services.  Amongst the most known areas are the Colon Free Zone (Atlantic side), as well as the Panama Pacific Special Economic Area (just as its name implies in the Pacific side).                                           

Free Zones are defined as delimited areas that seek the establishment of activities related to the production of goods, services, hi-tech, scientific research, as well as logistics, environmental and general services.  These areas are concentrated in the Cities of Panama and Colon.  Some key strategic areas in Panama City, in the storage sector are the free zones on the East (such as Panapark and Zona Franca del Istmo), and on the West (such as: Albrook, Panexport, and Chilibre).

Last but not least, the logistics parks are infrastructures that facilitate logistics operations of cargo handling, distribution and storage, and its connectivity with the different national transport platforms. 

As to the cold-chain storage, the Panamanian government founded the company Mercados Nacionales de Cadena de Frio, S.A., which has 168 cold storage rooms in its complex specially designed for food storage.

For more information on storage company contact details, please see the following link: 4.6 Storage and Milling Companies Contact List.

Commercial Storage

The storage infrastructure at the free zones are Class A+ infrastructures mostly and under international standards.  Equipment such as fire sprinkler systems independent of the drinking water storage system are important indicators for transnational corporations.  Some difficulties are the government processes, especially those involving non-intrusive methods of control and surveillance. Currently, there is a surplus of warehouses within parks and free zones. 

As to special economic areas, the Colon Free Zone is divided into nine different sectors with a total of 1,064 hectares with over 1,800 companies, focused on wholesale trade and complementary logistics and banking activities.

The Panama Pacific Special Economic Area has flexible areas for investments in joint services, logistics, hi-tech manufacture, residential areas and office buildings; there are over 280 companies installed in the area.  

Storage Used by Humanitarian Organizations

The Regional Logistics Center for Humanitarian Assistance (CLRAH, in Spanish) is based on Law 80 of 14 December 2017, (Official Gazette No. 28426-A) as a unit assigned to the Ministry of Government (Article 1). The CLRAH is a humanitarian logistics complex with three warehouses occupied by the National Civil Protection System (SINAPROC, in Spanish), and two foreign agencies, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and  the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) of the World Food Programme.  The warehouse assigned to the UNHRD, in its interior has an approximate of 1,100 m2 cold storage area, wherein temperatures range from 24⁰C to -20⁰C, for the storage of medicines and vaccines.  Each entity is responsible for the management and operation of their warehouse.       

[1] Warehouse Type: Open storage, container, rub-hall, silo, concrete, other, unspecified
[2] Warehouse Access: Raised-siding, flat
[3] Warehouse condition: Appears intact, appears damaged, under construction/repair

Public Sector Storage

Nationwide, there are several government institutions focused primarily on providing social assistance. One of the largest warehouses   in this subject is the warehouse of the Office of the First Lady. Additionally, the National Civil Protection System (SINAPROC, in Spanish) since 2019 has a humanitarian warehouse consisting of 2,800 m² located at the Regional Logistics Center for Humanitarian Assistance (CLRAH) in Panama Pacifico.  SINAPROC also has smaller sized warehouses in the interior of the country, specifically in Santa Fe, Darien (166 m²); Aguadulce, Cocle (46 m²); and under construction in the city of David, Chiriqui.  

[1] Warehouse Type: Open storage, container, rub-hall, silo, concrete, other, unspecified

[2] Warehouse Access: Raised-siding, flat

[3] Warehouse condition: Appears intact, appears damaged, under construction/repair

Cold Chain

The Company Mercados Nacionales de Cadena de Frio, S.A., has 168 cold storage rooms at the complex at Merca Panama (located at Vía Centenario, west of Panama City), exclusively designed to store perishable foods.  Currently, the main products being stored consists of vegetables and fruits.  The network is also composed by Post Harvest Management Centers or Centros de Manejo de Post Cosecha (CMPC, in Spanish), located in strategic areas nationwide.

These centers are located in areas that are easy to access for CMPC “El Elegido” is located in the Province of Los Santos, while CMPC “Cerro Punta”, CMPC “Dolega” and CMPC “Volcan” are located in Chiriqui.   .

Currently, the facilities of Mercados Nacionales de Cadena de Frío, S.A., are not operating 100% of their capacity, but the strategic plan focuses primarily to increase the number of users of the facilities especially ones in the Post Harvest Management Centers, depending on the different periods of national harvest.   

The cold storage installation is comprised by cold storage sandwich panels.  Panels are made of pre-lacquered and galvanized steel, differing from the rest of conventional panels due to its ability to yield very high thicknesses (up to 200 mm).  Additionally, it can withstand temperatures in ultra-freezing chambers of up to -30⁰C.

[1] Cold Room Positive, Cold Room Negative, Refrigerator, Freezer, etc.
[2] Compression, Absorption, Solar, Other, unspecified