Mexico container throughput up 33% in 2010

Mexico container throughput up 33% in 2010    Container ports in Mexico handled 2.7 million TEUs in the first nine months of 2010, a 33 percent increase from the same period in 2009, according to research by maritime consultant Dynamar.
   An overwhelming majority of the country's throughput is handled at four ports — Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas on the country's West Coast and Veracruz and Altamira on the East Coast. Those four ports handled 93.6 percent of the country's throughput in the first three quarters of the year. That's almost exactly equal with their collective share of the country's throughput in the last two years.
   Nearly two-thirds of Mexico's throughput is handled at Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas, which have a joint 62 percent share. Much of the country's growth is occurring at these two ports, with Manzanillo's volume growing 40.9 percent so far this year, and Lazaro Cardenas 39.2 percent.
   In comparison, volume at Veracruz has grown 21.7 percent and at Altamira 25.9 percent.