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 Business News | May 2006 
Investments in Port Developments Multiplying
 Robin Brundell - BNamericas.com
Mexican authorities have been forced to consider promoting and making large investments in the country's ports to provide them with sufficient capacity to handle the rapidly growing foreign trade, according to information from the general administration of ports and the merchant marine.
Despite the fact that over the last five years the Mexican port system has accumulated some 30.4bn pesos (US$2.74bn) in investments in the extension and modernization of infrastructure and equipment, there are a host of projects already underway in the country and various other significant schemes have been proposed which involve around US$12.5bn over the coming years.
"We're optimists because we think that this development is going to last for a very long time. The main reason is that these are projects that have private sector financing," Sabás Lemarroy, deputy director of strategic planning at the general administration of ports told BNamericas.
Ensenada port on Mexico's northern Pacific coast doubled the number of containers it handled in 2005 compared to 2004, thanks to dredging that increased the depth of its harbor to 40ft (12.2m).
Similar works were done in Mazatlán port on the coast of Sinaloa state to enable larger ships to dock, while Guaymas port on Sonora state's sea of Cortés is working on construction of a specialized container terminal.
In Puerto Vallarta in Jalisco state, two new wharves are being built for the arrival of cruise ships, while Puerto Chiapas, in the southeastern state of the same name, has opened a specialized cruise ship terminal and is about to open a new pier for normal port activities.
Meanwhile, Altamira port on Tampico state's Gulf of Mexico coast, has received sizeable investments from private firms like Shell and Iberdrola to build a port terminal and a liquid natural gas regasification plant, as well as four power stations.
Tuxpan port in Veracruz state is building specialized facilities for storage and transfer of fertilizers and is also developing a liquid petroleum gas terminal and Tampico port, in Tamaulipas state, is working on calling tenders for a new multi-use terminal.
In Coatzacoalcos port, also on the Gulf, rail firm Ferrosur has a concession for a rail-shipping service between Coatzacoalcos and Mobile port in the US state of Alabama.
Dos Bocas port in Tabasco state has built a pier for commercial operations and carried out dredging to diversify the port's activities, which are currently focused on crude oil exports. Progreso port in Yucatán state is building a pier to handle general cargo and liquids and is calling for bids on a new container terminal and dredging works.
PROPOSED DEVELOPMENTS FOR 2006-2012
Despite these heavy investments and the serious development of many of the ports around the country, there are a number of impressive and ambitious proposals for new projects in the coming years, especially in power and containers.
"In general, there is strong demand for port facilities due to the increase in foreign trade across the Pacific. So, container facilities are needed on the whole Pacific coast of Mexico," Lemarroy said.
"In principal there are two aspects to this. The first is to supply Mexico's domestic demand, as there is strong growth; and the other is to offer alternatives to the saturation in Los Angeles and Long Beach ports in the US. Mexico could be used as a logistical platform for the US," added the official.
One such project is the Punta Colonet proposal in Baja California state, which involves building a new port from scratch, as well as rail links into the US. This would mean spending approximately US$6bn in an effort to gain some of the market share up for grabs.
Another interesting project is the creation of a multimodal corridor across the Tehuantepec isthmus between Salina Cruz port in Oaxaca and Coatzacoalcos in Veracruz. With the rail and road links between the two ports and developments at the ports themselves, this project is estimated to cost around US$3.2bn.
In Manzanillo port, which is Mexico's most important container handler, authorities plan to expand the port to the north to build a new container terminal with 11 new docking positions.
A longer-term plan for the port, though, includes construction of an entirely new port in the Cuyutlán lagoon, which would include installation of a natural gas terminal to be operated separately by state-owned electricity company CFE.
"Each of the projects in the catalog of options... being offered to investors has different advantages and characteristics and we think that with these alternatives we can supply very well the demand for space in ports on the west coast of Mexico," Lemarroy said.
On the Gulf coast, Dos Bocas plant will have to build a new oil terminal with three piers, costing around 1.6bn pesos between 2009 and 2013.
Private investors plan to sink a total 21bn pesos into Altamira port to build a new combined cycle power plant, piers for general cargo and bulk mining products, as well as construction of a new liquefied gas terminal, a terminal for bulk oil products, an offshore liquefied natural gas terminal and a terminal for methanol and other petrochemicals.
A project for Veracruz port outlines the development of a logistics area. The works on this are set to begin in 2007 and will conclude by 2011, with the investment of around 1.3bn pesos. The long-term plans for the port include extension to the north to build terminals for containers, vehicles, bulk minerals and agricultural produce, as well as liquids and general cargo.
This will give the port an extra 32 docking areas and will cost some 8.1bn pesos, with works scheduled to begin in 2010 and wrapping up in 2017. |
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