Scope of this guide. Published costs, savings and schedules are indicative examples, not a project quotation or guarantee. Compare the same location, specification and scope. Structural supply, civil works, building services, finishes and logistics must be confirmed separately; permit and engineering requirements depend on the site.
In short
- PEB Corp provides engineering and export coordination, NewCon Steel® fabricates the cold-formed steel at the group plant in Panama City, and SmartBrix Construction delivers turnkey projects in Colombia and Panama.
- The plant operates under Panama's EMMA regime (Law 159 of 2020), which is not a free zone and does not change the destination country's duty.
- The steel ships with a Panamanian certificate of origin (HS 72.16), and import treatment is decided by the destination customs.
- PEB Corp designs and checks each structure to the destination's code: REP-2021, NSR-10, or the IBC with loads per ASCE/SEI 7.
- There is no full-container MOQ, regional transit is measured in days, and the lead time is confirmed against each order.
PEB Corp, the parent company of PEB Corp Group, coordinates the engineering and export of steel buildings fabricated in Panama for Central America and the Caribbean. NewCon Steel® manufactures the cold-formed steel structure at the group's CNC plant in Panama City, the design is checked against the destination country's code, and the destination customs authority sets the duty. This guide is written for buyers in the region and for US and Canadian developers with projects there. It separates what can be documented from Panama from what the destination decides.
Who does what in PEB Corp Group
The group works in three separate scopes. Every proposal names the contracting company and what it delivers, so you can compare like-for-like bids.
- PEB Corp provides structural engineering, BIM design at LOD 400, institutional relations, and export coordination. It is the group's point of contact for projects in the Caribbean and the other markets it serves.
- NewCon Steel® manufactures profiles, panels, and structural kits in cold-formed steel (CFS), also called light-gauge steel (LGS). It does not build buildings.
- SmartBrix Construction delivers turnkey Steel Framing and modular projects. It operates in Colombia and Panama and accepts inquiries for Central America and the Caribbean.
In one line: NewCon Steel supplies the steel; SmartBrix Construction executes the construction; PEB Corp provides the engineering and the institutional relationship. Our page on what each PEB Corp Group company does lists the legal entities and when to contact each one. If you already have a general contractor (GC), request the steel supply quote directly from NewCon Steel; its LGS/CFS steel buying guide explains the supply levels.
Why source from Panama: plant, capacity, and ports
NewCon Steel® manufactures the members at the group's CNC plant at Centro Industrial PEB, Las Mañanitas, Panama City, operated under Panama's EMMA regime (Law 159 of 2020), which allows duty-free import of machinery, raw material and inputs. The plant has a production capacity of 20,000 m² per month (about 215,000 sq ft per month) of cold-formed steel structure. The figure describes capacity; the lead time is confirmed against each order.
For a buyer in the region, fabricating in Panama changes three practical conditions:
- Short transit. Transit to Central America and the Caribbean takes days, not weeks, with no transpacific crossing. Cargo leaves through the ports of Manzanillo, Colón, or Balboa.
- A counterpart nearby. Engineering support works in the region's time zone, in English and Spanish, and NewCon Steel invoices in US dollars.
- Orders sized to the project. There is no full-container minimum order quantity (MOQ). The actual minimum depends on the profile family and the destination and is confirmed in writing in the quote.
The plant has been in operation since 2018. Behind it is PEB Corp Group, delivering projects since 2009, with 350+ projects and 15+ years of track record in Panama, Colombia and the Caribbean. These are PEB Corp Group projects executed by SmartBrix Construction: on some, the structure was fabricated at the group plant, and on others the group carried out the installation. The group holds ISO 9001, 14001, 45001 and 37001 certifications. Our PEB Corp page for Panama summarizes REP-2021 engineering for local projects.
Panama's EMMA regime: what it is and what it is not
EMMA stands for Empresas Multinacionales para la prestación de servicios relacionados con la Manufactura (multinational companies providing manufacturing-related services). According to Panama's Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MICI), the regime was created by Law 159 of 2020. Its tariff benefit works on the inbound side: it applies to what the plant imports in order to produce.
Three clarifications prevent common misunderstandings:
- It is not a free zone. EMMA is a special regime, not a location. The plant is not in a free zone.
- It does not change your country's duty. No Panamanian regime can remove the duty charged by another country's customs authority. Tariff relief, where it exists, comes from a trade agreement.
- It does not replace the certificate of origin. Cold forming in Panama changes the tariff heading from flat-rolled product to structural section, which supports Panamanian origin under the rules of origin of the agreements in force.
What matters to the buyer is the Panamanian certificate of origin (HS 72.16) and the trade instrument in force between Panama and the destination; import treatment is decided by the destination customs. Today, the Central America–Panama FTA, with a bilateral protocol per country, covers Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Trinidad and Tobago have partial scope agreements with closed product lists. Jamaica, The Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Curaçao, and Aruba apply their general tariff. NewCon Steel® keeps that table, with the documents issued per destination, on its country-by-country coverage page.
Panama vs. a transpacific import or a US kit
The table compares three sourcing routes for a building in Central America or the Caribbean. The Panama column uses figures the group publishes; the other two describe general conditions of each route, not any specific supplier.
| Criterion | Fabricated in Panama (PEB Corp Group) | Transpacific import | Kit from the US or Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design standard | AISI S100-16 (R2020) w/S3-22 and AISI S240-20, checked against REP-2021, NSR-10, or IBC/ASCE 7 per jurisdiction | Varies by supplier; equivalence with the local code has to be demonstrated to the authority | Usually designed to the codes of the country of origin; acceptance is confirmed with the local authority |
| Transit to the region | Days, with no transpacific crossing | Weeks, with a transpacific crossing | Depends on the route and the port of loading |
| Minimum order | No full-container MOQ; minimum confirmed in the quote | Typically a full container | Varies by manufacturer |
| Time zone and language | The region's time zone; English and Spanish | A counterpart several time zones away; language varies | North American time zones; language varies by supplier |
| Coating | Zn-Al-Mg 275 g/m² total across both faces (ZM275 / ZMM275) | Varies; check the actual mass on the mill certificate | Varies by manufacturer |
| Documentation | Mill certificate, shop drawings, sealed calculations with kits, and Panamanian certificate of origin (HS 72.16) | Varies; confirm which documents your authority accepts | Varies; confirm the seals your authority requires |
Codes and engineering: IBC, ASCE 7, AISC 360, and AISI S100
PEB Corp designs and checks each structure to the code of the country where it is built: REP-2021 in Panama, NSR-10 in Colombia, and the IBC with loads per ASCE/SEI 7 in Caribbean jurisdictions that adopt it. A building is designed to a code and permitted by the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ); codes do not certify buildings.
Hot-rolled steel structures (AISC 360) are designed by PEB Corp engineering; NewCon Steel® manufactures the bolted cold-formed steel (AISI S100). Cold-formed members are designed to AISI S100-16 (R2020) with Supplement 3 (S3-22) and to AISI S240-20. AISI S400-20 is added when the seismic design category requires it, and loads follow ASCE/SEI 7-22 where the jurisdiction adopts it.
For wind, the group publishes hurricane design verified up to 250 km/h (155 mph), Saffir-Simpson Category 4, and checks it project by project. The quoted wind speed is a design reference, not a universal building rating. Engineering works from the wind speed map, exposure, and code edition that your jurisdiction adopts. For projects in the Dominican Republic or Guyana, see our pages on engineering for the Dominican Republic and steel buildings for Guyana.
Documents that ship with the steel
A NewCon Steel export order ships with the documents your plan reviewer and customs broker will ask for:
- Mill certificate (mill test report, MTR) for the supplied lot and the profile data sheet.
- Takeoff and cut list, plus shop drawings for the fabricated pieces.
- For a NewCon Steel® structural kit, the structural model and calculations sealed by an engineer licensed in the project's jurisdiction.
- Panamanian certificate of origin (HS 72.16) for customs clearance.
- An erection guide, on request.
The steel is Zn-Al-Mg 275 g/m² (ZM275 to EN 10346 / ZMM275 to ASTM A1046): 275 g/m² total across both faces (0.90 oz/ft²). It comes in thicknesses of 0.85–2.5 mm (0.033–0.098 in) with a ±0.5 mm (±0.02 in) CNC fabrication tolerance; the exact thickness for each profile family is confirmed on the data sheet issued with the quote. Coating mass is not a service-life guarantee; the specification is chosen for the site's exposure. PEB Corp Group's ISO certifications cover management systems, not a building, and they do not replace calculations or local permits.
Logistics: containers, ports, and transit
Material is fabricated against the cut list, dimensionally checked, and bundled and identified by lot. It ships in standard containers through Manzanillo, Colón, or Balboa, depending on the carrier and the port of discharge.
The exact transit time to your port, the sailing date, and the delivery terms (Incoterms) are confirmed with the quote. Fabrication lead time depends on design, quantities, drawing approval, available capacity, and destination logistics. Our Caribbean shipping logistics guide covers packing and consolidation, and the guide to building permits for steel buildings in the Caribbean helps you run permitting in parallel with fabrication.
What to send for a quote
With this information, the right group company can define deliverables, exclusions, and responsibilities in the first proposal:
- Country, city, and port of discharge.
- Building use, approximate area, number of floors, and available drawings with their revision.
- Site and permit status, and your target date.
- Required scope: engineering, steel supply, or construction.
- Your customs broker's contact, if you have one.
Before comparing bids, use our checklist for requesting an industrialized construction quote. If you need a finished building in Colombia or Panama, request a turnkey proposal from SmartBrix Construction.
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