The port projects Mexico needs to keep exports growing

Although Mexico reported strong growth of 19% in exports in June, a specialist claims the country’s main seaports are at full capacity and three new container terminal projects are therefore necessary to maintain the upward trend. 

“What we see is that this rate of growth in our foreign trade requires strengthening of port communications, among other things, to provide better services. To be able to export more we also need to import more,” Fernando Ruiz Huarte, director of Mexican foreign trade, investment and technology association Comce, told BNamericas.

The three projects outlined by Ruiz involve the new US$900mn Mazatlán floating port in Sinaloa state, which is being spearheaded led by investment group Caxxor and will serve as the main link for the US$3.3bn T-MEC corridor, and the new container terminals at Coatzacoalcos port in Veracruz state and Salina Cruz in Oaxaca state, part of the government's plan to create the Tehuantepec isthmus interoceanic corridor. 

All three of these initiatives have been confirmed, but none have seen the start of construction as yet. 

The new Mazatlán port would help relieve the Pacific ports of Manzanillo in Colima state and Lázaro Cárdenas in Michoacán state, “which, at times, becomes saturated and that takes away our competitiveness in transport and imports, and consequently exports,” Ruiz said. 

He also said the new terminals in Veracruz and Oaxaca state are highly important due to their strategic location in the southeast to connect the Pacific and Gulf coasts of Mexico and open new routes to markets such as Asia. 

“It's important to have efficient, highly competitive ports on the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, not only for general cargo, but also for containers,” the specialist said. 

“So it seems that this is the most important thing there is, as well as strengthening the ports so that cabotage and short-distance transport can be developed, both in the Gulf and in the Pacific,” Ruiz said. 

In May, Caxxor CEO Carlos Ortiz told BNamericas that the company was looking to kick off works this year on two of the three main infrastructure projects needed to connect Sinaloa state in Mexico with Winnipeg in Canada, via the US, with these developments including the new port in Mazatlán. 

Meanwhile, Rafael Marín Mollinedo, director of the agency in charge of the interoceanic corridor (CIIT), confirmed during BNamericas' 2022 Mexican infrastructure opportunities webinar in January that the tender for Coatzacoalcos terminal will be launched this year. 

However, the tender for the Salina Cruz terminal could take a little longer because the government is currently working on completing a breakwater project at the port, he said. 

EXPORTS 

Statistics institute Inegi reported on July 27 that the value of the country's exports totaled US$51.2bn in June, a year-on-year increase of 20.2%. This meant that exports in the first half of the year reached US$281bn, up 18.8% compared with the first six months of 2021.

However, Mexico continues recording trade deficits, with the gap reaching US$12.9bn in 1H22, a 25% year-on-year increase.