Punta Colonet - Looking Back to 2006 Project Approval

In October 2006, Mexico's Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT) authorized creation of a major deep-sea port at the sleepy farming and fishing village of Punta Colonet, on the Pacific Coast, 120 miles south of San Diego. The agency said that research confirmed that Colonet Bay has the depth and size to meet "all necessary services related to port activities." Real estate values have soared ever since in the area of Port Colonet, as it may be named.

At the time, railroad company Ferromex announced its intention to bid for the construction of a 320-km line to link Punta Colonet with Mexicali, the capital of Baja California. Ferromex is a partner of Burlington Northern and Union Pacific in the U.S. Ferromex said it had $280 million in cash on hand to build the line. (Ferromex would profit from container transportation and from increased shipment of mining products.)

Bidding for the $5-12 billion port facilities construction contract was expected from the major Pacific Ocean shipping lines.

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Punta Colonet Domains -- Why Buy Them Now?

Why spend $10 to create a new Punta Colonet domain, or spend $thousands to purchase an existing domain (such as PuntaColonetLawyers.com)? There are two answers: 1) to make money reselling the domain, or 2) to use the domain to market your business.

In the first instance, you’re basically investing from $10 to $100,000 in one or more web addresses, so that you can later (tomorrow? next year?) sell the domain(s) to others for far more money. As noted in an earlier blog entry, the geographic domain Russia.com, which someone created for $10, recently sold for $1.5 million. As the mega-port project moves ahead, domains with PuntaColonet in them should sell very strongly.

In the second case, you’ll buy a domain because it will help you build your business. For instance, if you’re planning on selling Punta Colonet real estate, you’ll want to use the domain PuntaColonetHomes.com or PuntaColonetProperty.com to attract people looking for houses or land.

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Punta Colonet Construction Contract Eyed by Massive Grupo Mexico

Fresh confirmation of the inevitability of mega-port development in the Mexican town of Punta Colonet came today via a Reuters report that massive Grupo Mexico (GMEXICOB.MX), which owns copper mines in Mexico, Peru and the U.S., “is expanding its construction business by eyeing a bid for a new international airport near Cancun [the Riviera Maya airport] and a major Pacific ocean port” – Punta Colonet.

"We are interested in expanding our infrastructure and construction business in areas of ports, airports and all the types of infrastructure that is linked to our principal businesses: the railroad and the mines," Juan Rebolledo, vice president of international relations, told Reuters.

Pablo Peregrina, an analyst at BBVA Bancomer, said that given Grupo Mexico's relative inexperience with airports, it is unlikely to win the Riviera Maya bid.

But the airport is not the company's only major target. Grupo Mexico is also looking at a large container port project, said Jorge Pulido, head of Grupo Mexico's investor relations. According to Reuters, “The port, planned for Punta Colonet on the Baja California peninsula near the U.S. border, would handle up to 6 million containers per year and is considered one of President Felipe Calderon's top infrastructure proposals, but it has been long postponed as the government decides how to launch the tender.”

U.S. State Department Promotes U.S. Business Participation in Punta Colonet Construction

The U.S. Commercial Service, a division of the Department of Commerce, is keen on getting U.S. companies to bid on contracts for transformation of the tiny Mexican village of Punta Colonet into one of the world's biggest container ports. A slightly out-of-date posting on the agency's web site says:

"The recent announcement of a tender to construct a new port at Punta Colonet in northwestern Mexico is a major step forward in Mexico’s National Infrastructure Program, announced in July 2007. This project will require an investment of over 4-5 billion dollars and is likely to attract U.S., Mexican, Asian and other international business interest. ... To submit expressions of interest in this project U.S. firms should carefully review the tender documents and be in touch with the U.S. Embassy Commercial Service for counseling and advocacy support.

"The Mexican Federal Government and the government of the State of Baja California have developed a project to build a multi-billion dollar port in Baja California to accommodate the ever-increasing trade between Asia and North America. They have identified Punta Colonet, located 50 miles south of Ensenada in northwestern Mexico, as the best location to build a new port. The location is currently lacking infrastructure and population, both of which will increase with the construction of the port.

"This project is being proposed to address the limitations of current ports to handle the increasing volume of cargo. Shipments from Asia have increased 15% annually and are expected to double by 2020 with China alone responsible for over 50% of the increase. Forecasts suggest that two of the largest American ports, Los Angeles and Long Beach, are already reaching capacity. According to the Mexican Government, American importers, Asian exporters, and global shipping companies have expressed interest in port expansion on the Pacific coast.

"The port at Punta Colonet will be focused on cargo container movement from Asia for the American market. The port is projected to process initially about one million containers annually, with a potential increase to 8 million within the next 15 years. It would occupy 27,000 acres. Currently Mexico’s largest port on the Pacific processes about 1 million containers annually, in comparison with the more than 15 million containers processed annually by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The cost for this project is estimated at U.S. $ 4-5 Billion, and is being led by the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT), as part of the National Infrastructure Program (2007-2012). The Mexican Federal Government and the State of Baja California have already spent about five million dollars in different studies to determine the potential and feasibility of this project.

"Aside from the port itself, there will be major development in infrastructure, including rail, roads, an airport, public and private housing, a power plant, a natural gas terminal, and a desalinization facility, among other projects, with an estimated total cost of over US $20 Billion."

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Mexican Bureacracy Holding Up Port Projects Nationwide, Columnist Says

The Mexican government agency responsible for overseeing construction and operations of seaports has delayed more than $10 billion worth of infrastructure projects, not counting the delayed Punta Colonet mega-port project, according to Excelsior columnist Dario Celis. Twenty-seven projects, including construction of five new ports (Punta Colonet, Manzanillo, Veracruz, Seybaplaya and Puerto Madero) in the National Infrastructure Plan are affected. Celis blames General Coordinator of Ports & Merchant Marine Alejandro Chacon for much of the delay, writing that Chacon has not been sufficiently engaged in the process to resolve legal issues and clear away bureaucratic roadblocks.

Mexico Delays Riviera Maya Airport Construction Bidding, But Maybe Only for a Few Weeks

Bidding for construction of the Riviera Maya airport was to have opened April 15, but Mexico's department of Communications and Transportation has delayed the process, possibly only until later this month (May 2010). Secretary Humberto Trevino said that the Federal Competition Commission (Cofeco) had raised some issues that needed to be addressed. Mexican President Felipe Calderon said in March that the airport is one of the priority projects in his National Infrastructure Program. Both the airport and the Punta Colonet mega-port have been delayed due to the global economic crisis, but prospects for both projects have obviously improved in recent months.

Ernesto Ruffo Appel & Roberto Curiel Hope to Develop the Punta Colonet Mega-Port

The newspaper La-Ch notes today that former Baja California governor Ernesto Ruffo Appel is associated with Ensenada businessman Roberto Curiel in a company that hopes to win the federal contract to develop the mega-port at Punta Colonet.  In January 2006, it is reported, Ruffo and Curiel created the company Port Colonet Infraestructura, S.A. of C.V., and bought two thousand hectares in Colonet.