Pinfra unit wins contract to build Veracruz terminal

Infraestructura Portuaria Mexicana (IPM), the port subsidiary of Mexican infrastructure firm Pinfra, has been awarded a concession contract to build and operate a 183,000m2 public terminal for semi-specialized container and bulk cargo in the port of Veracruz on the Gulf coast.

The other firm that received authorization to participate in the tender ended up withdrawing from the process, so IPM was the only company to submit technical and economic bids.

Building the terminal will require an estimated 2.5bn pesos (US$134mn), Pinfra said in a note sent to the Mexican stock exchange.

The firm offered to pay 401mn pesos plus VAT to port authority API Veracruz as an initial fee, plus 25 pesos plus VAT a month per square meter of the area awarded.

The contract runs for 20 years, with the possibility of renewal for a similar period.

IPM will be required to build two piers, one 300m long to be completed before terminal operations begin, and one 250m long to be ready within the subsequent six years.

The terminal is one of four to be built as part of the port's 30bn peso expansion.

Originally launched in December last year, the tender for the contract was canceled in March after an unfavorable ruling by federal antitrust commission Cofece, but relaunched in June. Contracts for the construction of the other three facilities have already been awarded.

IPM currently operates a similar terminal in the port of Altamira, in the northern state of Tamaulipas.

PICTURED: API Veracruz officials attend the contract's award ceremony in the city of Veracruz. (CREDIT: API Veracruz)