(AP) -- The recently retired head of the Panama Canal Authority says East Coast and Gulf ports will benefit most from expansion of the canal which should be fully operational in 2015.
Alberto Aleman Zubieta spoke Tuesday to the South Carolina International Trade Conference on the Isle of Palms.
He says work to deepen the canal and build larger locks continues around the clock. The canal is being expanded to handle larger container and other ships that will soon dominate world trade.
Zubieta says when the canal is completed, U.S. grain exports through the Gulf and East Coast will become more competitive, as will Gulf crude and natural gas from the nation's growing fracking industry.
U.S. ports are racing to deepen their harbors to handle the larger ships.
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