Snapshot: Mexico to invest US$1.6bn in strategic ports

The Mexican government announced it will invest close to 32.8bn pesos (US$1.62bn) in a port refurbishment plan that includes works at six of the country’s largest terminals. 

During President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Thursday morning press conference, navy secretary Raymundo Morales and the director of the port management department, Marco Antonio Martínez, presented the plan that will be carried out in the coming years which includes refurbishment works in the following facilities:

Ensenada

Approximately 5.7bn pesos will be invested from 2025 to 2028 in the two facilities that the coastal city has: Ensenada port and Sauzal port, which are key to trade with the United States in terms of passenger cruises and freight.

“We will seek to separate their roles, leaving Ensenada port for cruises and Sauzal port for freight containers and hydrocarbons,” said Martínez.

At Ensenada the works comprise the expansion of a dock and the construction of the maritime traffic control center. In Sauzal the breakwaters will be expanded and fishing activities will be relocated. A container terminal will also be tendered. 

According to the navy ministry, these works will allow the ports to see a 223% income boost and an 85% customs revenue increase.  

Manzanillo

Sheinbaum’s administration will invest 13.6bn pesos from 2025 to 2029 in the port that handles the most commercial freight in the country and the third most in Latin America. It has the capacity to receive ships transporting 1,800 containers. 

San Pedrito, the current Manzanillo port that receives freight containers, will have a new container yard built and see the construction of two docks – one of them for fishing – as well as dredging works. 

Nuevo Manzanillo is a newer project that will cover 1,880ha and will be four times larger than San Pedrito. It will have new hydrocarbon terminals, and a yard to increase storage capacity. The plan also includes the construction of a specialized dock, four container terminals, dredging works and the construction of a customs facility to process 10mn TEUs per year. Currently 3.9mn TEUs a year are handled at the port.

Lázaro Cárdenas

The port, which is essential for trade with Asia, currently transports automotive, agro-industrial, construction, chemical and mining goods as well as containers. Its refurbishment plans involve 6.1bn pesos and will be carried out from 2025 to 2029. They include building customs facilities and the port’s south exit, refurbishing access roads, expanding fiscal yards and urban rearrangement programs for nearby communities. According to the navy ministry, the plan will double the TEU-handling capacity from 4mn per year to 8.2mn.

Acapulco

“Having been a tourist attraction, later affected by Hurricane Otis, the port is expected to undergo refurbishment works that allow it to go back to being a tourist benchmark,” said Martínez. 

Acapulco port’s refurbishment plan includes maintenance works on the multipurpose pier and two areas: the Port’s Garden and the consumption area. The pier will be expanded to allow the docking of cruise ships. Two of them arrived in Acapulco port in 2024 and the number is expected to increase to 17 in 2025. Approximately 386mn pesos will be invested in the port from 2025 to 2029. 

Veracruz

This is one of Mexico’s oldest ports and currently handles automotive parts and vehicles – with 1mn vehicles transported in 2023 – containers, and agriculture products. It will receive a 1.8bn-peso investment from 2025 to 2027 to build a breakwater to the east in order to construct new piers and new terminals, which will be put out to tender. 

Progreso

This port will receive a 7.2bn-peso investment comprising 5.2bn from the federal government and 1.5bn from Yucatán state.

The plans include building an 80ha platform to house a new shipyard and new terminals for vehicles and natural gas, among other products. Dredging works will also be carried out along access channels and docks.