One of the main bases that sustains international trade are seaports , as they are the access points for merchandise arriving from different parts of the world through sea transport.

Mexico is characterized by having a privileged geographical location and has a high participation in foreign trade, since it has been able to take advantage of the 11,000 kilometers of its coastlines to develop maritime trade.

The National Port System is made up of 117 ports and terminals , of which those of Veracruz, Altamira, Manzanillo and Lázaro Cárdenas stand out greatly due to their location, facilities, and storage capacity and diverse cargo that make them highly strategic for the economic development of the country. , according to information from the Ministry of Communications and Transportation (SCT).

Historically, together with Ensenada, these five ports have been characterized by concentrating the largest cargo movement in the country with their respective rises and falls.

What is a seaport?

It is defined as a coastal infrastructure that has terminals or operating units for different classes of vessels. The ports are classified between those of cabotage, which only receive national vessels, and those of height, which also serve international commercial or tourist maritime flows. 

These vessels are operated by different companies, and regarding the maritime transport of goods, some of the largest in the world are Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM, ZIM Container Service and Seaboard Marine, Hamburg Süd Line, COSCO, Evergreen and Hapag. -Lloyd , among others.

In addition, a commercial seaport must have connections with land routes (road or rail) and even air, to form a multimodal network that allows merchandise to be sent to practically any place in the world where a transport can arrive. Likewise, it is necessary to regulate everything that enters and leaves the ports of Mexico , for which the maritime, customs and tariff authorities are always present.

Below we present the most important seaports in Mexico:

port of Veracruz

Throughout two and a half centuries it was the only port on the American continent from which merchandise was sent to Europe and also received from the so-called Old World. It was not until 1895, in the Porfiriato, when the works of expansion and improvement of the port of Veracruz.

Veracruz then had more than enough capacity to receive tall ships that would benefit the national economy. These works reached a cost of 30 million pesos. It should be noted that it was the first to have all the infrastructure services, and its great virtue is shown by currently mobilizing all types of cargo that makes it different from the others.

The federal government, through the SCT, together with the private initiative, proposed to build -in two stages- a New Port of Veracruz (2014-2024) located to the northwest of the traditional one. Its main objective is the construction of five new terminals: Specialized Container Terminal, Fluid Terminal, Agricultural Bulk, Mineral , and Semi-specialized in General and Containerized Cargo . 

The New Port of Veracruz extends over an area of ​​1,113 hectares. Around 31,000 million pesos were invested in it, 80% of which is private capital. On July 1, 2019, the White Shark container ship of the French shipping company CMA-CGM  arrived at this new port to its destination, the new Hutchinson Port ICAVE Container Terminal , thus inaugurating the new port facilities of Veracruz.

Industrial Port of Altamira

Inaugurated in 1985, the Port of Altamira is located in the extreme southeast of the state of Tamaulipas, it was created as an example of new strategic poles of industrial development on the country's coasts; and covers with its three areas: port, industrial park and ecological corridor, with an area of ​​almost 9,600 hectares.

It was established to meet the demands for foreign trade of the Central and Northern states of the country, and to increase the commercial flow in strategic geographical areas of the world such as North America, Central America, Europe and the Middle East.

The Port of Altamira has 13 operating terminals and 19 berths, equipped to serve a range of diverse cargoes: Petrochemical Fluids, Containerized Cargo, Loose General Cargo, Mineral Bulk, and Agricultural Bulk; and soon Petroleum Fluids.

Its industrial park houses more than 40 companies -between national and foreign- that give rise to the most important private petrochemical cluster in Mexico, which produces 2.3 million tons per year. For its part, the ecological corridor preserves the flora and fauna of the area and prevents the urban sprawl from advancing towards the port.

The Port of Altamira has great connectivity both by road and by rail, especially with the Northeast and Center areas of the country where 70% of the national GDP is generated. In addition to the petrochemical cluster formed at its facilities, the port has achieved other great successes such as the South Texas-Tuxpan Gas Pipeline, by becoming the production and distribution nucleus of its pipeline with a length of 500 kilometers. In recent years, the automotive cargo handled by this port has increased to 300,000 units per year.

Port of manzanillo

In 1824, the opening of Manzanillo as a port on the Pacific Ocean was decreed, and until 1848 it was recognized as a high-altitude port when its maritime customs was established.10

API Manzanillo , a private Mexican company, obtained the port concession from the SCT in 1994. The port of Manzanillo extends over an area of ​​437 hectares where docks, storage areas and 19 berths are located, among other areas that are part of the of your infrastructure. Among its various terminals are the General Cargo that handles merchandise such as steel products, paper rolls, auto parts, spare parts, vehicles , etc.

The Agricultural Bulk terminal (wheat, turnip seed, oats) already has three large storage silos of seven thousand tons each. The Bulk Mineral terminal (cement, zinc concentrate, sulfur, gypsum, etc.) has a storage capacity of 60,000 tons, and a cargo transfer rate of 2,000 tons/hour.

For its part, the Containerized Terminal handles the loading and unloading of powdered milk, perishables, clothing and footwear, household appliances, electronics, spare parts, tequila, etc. A total of three ships can be handled at the same time in the Specialized Container Handling terminal , which achieves a performance of up to 120 boxes per ship hour; For this reason, Manzanillo is considered in Latin America as the fourth port with the highest movement of containerized cargo.

The area of ​​influence of the port of Manzanillo at the national level extends to the Center and Bajío of the Republic, while at the international level it covers the west coast of America and the Pacific basin. Manzanillo has a rail and road network to move the goods in a fluid and efficient way. The port has a static capacity of 49,069 TEUS13 and a dynamic capacity of 2,132,667 TEUS.

Port of Lazaro Cardenas

It is located facing the Pacific Ocean in the extreme southeast of the state of Michoacán, almost on the border with the state of Guerrero. Its inauguration took place in 1974 and it was designed to be a first class industrial and cargo port. 

Its name honors the great vision that General Lázaro Cárdenas had to build this strategic port to achieve industrial development , and the economic and social progress of the region to which it belongs, as well as the country.

The port area has an extension of 3,834 hectares of water and land, 20 berths and 13 terminals. Its 18-meter-deep access channel makes it unique in the country, in addition to being capable of receiving ships of up to 165,000 tons of displacement.

Its various terminals, well equipped and located, allow the ideal handling of their respective loads. Within the public terminals are: the Specialized Container Terminal, with two units and five berths; the Multiple Use Unit has three units and a vessel reception capacity of 80,000 tons; the Agricultural Bulk Terminal has a storage capacity of 80,000 tons; the Automobile Specialty can operate 600,000 units a year; Bulk Ore and Steel Products has an operating capacity of six million tons per year; and the Fluids Terminal  is able to receive ships with a displacement of 165,000 tons.

At the end of November 2019, almost 27,000 tons of cargo of all kinds were mobilized in this port, generating around 1,000 direct jobs.

The Lázaro Cárdenas port is connected to 100 world-class ports distributed in 40 countries. Its area of ​​influence at the national level covers more than 60 million inhabitants that make up the Central economic zone, the most relevant in the country that generates more than 60% of GDP. Towards the outside it influences, like the port of Manzanillo, on the West Coast of North America, Central and South America; and in several countries of the Pacific Ocean basin.

Currently, the enormous increase in the commercial flow between Asia and Mexico makes this extraordinary port a logistic and reliable point for the movement of cargo in this constantly growing market.