Construction of Mazatlán port, industrial parks for T-MEC corridor to begin this year

Mexican conglomerate Caxxor Group, which is leading construction of the US$3.3bn T-MEC Corridor, is looking to start works this year on two of the three main infrastructure projects needed to connect Sinaloa state in Mexico with Winnipeg in Canada, via the US.

The projects involve construction in stages of a new and modern floating port in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, the 180km Durango-Mazatlán rail line and four industrial parks, two of which will be built in Coahuila state and two in Durango state. 

“We'll surely address the part related to the railroad next year. We'll deal with the part related to the industrial parks and the port starting this year,” Caxxor CEO Carlos Ortiz told BNamericas.

Planning for the project has progressed rapidly this year following the January decision of the infrastructure, communications and transport ministry (SICT) to carry it out as a public-private partnership. Investments in the works, however, will come solely from the private sector, Ortiz said. 

According to the executive, the company submitted the environmental studies for the project to the federal government last week and Caxxor has already managed to obtain all the land necessary to build the three main sets of works. 

“Right now we have the land for the logistics centers and the port, and we have full viability for everything related to the railroad. That part is also 100% secured,” he said.

LINK TO THE US

Ortiz reiterated that the route of the T-MEC corridor would not be changed, even though high-ranking Mexican officials have said they were trying to modify it so it would no longer go through Texas, after state governor Greg Abbott decided to implement secondary inspections on trucks entering the state to search for undocumented immigrants.  

However, the company is still mulling the idea of adding Nuevo León state to its plans. 

“At the moment, we're still assessing whether the border crossing for the main T-MEC corridor to Texas will be in Coahuila or Nuevo León,” he said. 

Regardless of where the corridor’s main entrance to the US will be built, Caxxor is considering adding more access routes to the US rail network via other states such as Chihuahua, which emerged as an alternative during recent border restrictions in Texas. 

“I think [access from] Chihuahua state has to become a reality…. What we want is our country to have a second alternative in case Texas [closes the border],” he said, adding that “The states involved in the T-MEC corridor are Sinaloa, Durango and Coahuila, but there's an opportunity to expand it to Nuevo León and Chihuahua.”