Grupo Mexico Ready to Bid on Punta Colonet Mega-Port; Mexican Port Business is Booming Again

Grupo Mexico, the powerful mining and freight transport conglomerate, last month declared its interest in participating in tenders for the Punta Colonet port project. Grupo Mexico’s extensive national rail network makes the port project particularly attractive. According to Business Monitor International, “Mexico's maritime sector has outperformed that of several other Latin American states in 2010; the country's 16 largest ports recorded total throughput growth of 29% in the first four months of the year. Signs of returning confidence in the maritime sector have reignited the interest of investors,” and particularly in construction and operation of the long-delayed Punta Colonet mega-port.

BMI says there has been “a steady uptick in container shipments from Asia to Pacific coast terminals. Increasing trade volumes have led shipping lines to expand capacity on services to and from” Mexican ports. “The improvement in port traffic and overall operating conditions aligns with our predictions of a robust recovery in Mexico's maritime sector over the year as a whole. In 2010, BMI sees Mexican trade volumes, which fell by 16.6% in real terms last year, growing at a brisk 16.2% with imports and exports increasing by 16% and 16.5% respectively. The recovery will be fed, in no small part, by the economic rebound of Mexico's largest trade partner the US, which is the end destination for much of the shipments received by Mexico's west coast ports from Asia.”

BMI projects that “imports will expand by 15.15% to US$295.4bn. The strongest growth in value terms will be registered by fuels, followed by ores and metals and then iron and steel. Exports will grow marginally slower than imports in value terms - up by 12.8% to US$275.1bn. The biggest export growth categories, measured in value will be fuels, ores and metals and iron and steel, in that order.”

The BMI report can be purchased here.