Panama's canal administrator said on Thursday it has put off a plan to increase tolls on the inter-oceanic waterway until July after receiving comments from shipping clients.
The authority said in February it planned to hike prices for container ships by 10 percent this year, another 17 percent in 2008 and a further 14 percent the following year. Feedback from the maritime industry led it to delay implementing the new prices, the authority said.
The authority has said the price increases, originally planned for May, are necessary to help pay for a planned $5.25 billion expansion of the canal to accommodate larger, modern ships.
The project for the canal, which was considered US territory from the time it was opened in 1914 until it was returned to Panama in 1999, will double its capacity. The canal saves ships a long haul around South America's treacherous Cape Horn. It carries around 4 percent of world maritime trade.
But its system of locks is too small for many modern tankers and container ships, which are facing longer waits to make the 50-mile (80-km) trip through the canal.
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