New Mexican Government Under Pressure To Improve Ports
Ocean carriers and forwarders are pleading with the new Mexican government to improve infrastructure, as its ports are struggling to cope with the dramatic rise in ocean freight traffic.
Frustration is rising throughout the shipping community over delays at the country’s ports, which have proven to be unable to absorb the influx of new business that the nearshoring trend has brought with it.
At a recent annual congress of Mexican shipping agents, speakers described the situation as ‘disastrous’, which has been echoed by several global carriers.
The rapid growth in traffic has overwhelmed Mexican ports this year, with throughput rising by 14.8% to around 6.2m TEU. The West Coast gateway ports of Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas are the worst affected, with Asia imports more than doubling in value during the past ten years.
Ports on the East Coast, such as Vera Cruz, have also been impacted by delays and congestion, as have transhipment services through Mexico to Central American destination such as El Salvador and Nicaragua, where delays of a few weeks are commonplace.
New Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn in as the first ever female leader of the country earlier this month and the shipping community is hopeful that port infrastructure will be high on her agenda after years of neglect by former administrations.
While several Mexican ports are in a precarious position right now, congestion in the area has not just been limited to Mexico. Panama Canal delays, issues with the Panama rail link and even the build up to the US port strike have all contributed to a difficult period for ports in the region.
