Lazaro Cardenas pumps up Mexico

   A new terminal that APM Terminals (APMT) is planning to build in Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico will have an initial capacity to handle 1.2 million TEUs per year and be able to process as many as 4.2 million TEUs annually when fully completed.
   APMT announced Thursday that it had been awarded a 32-year concession to design, build, and operate a new terminal in the Pacific Coast port at a cost of about $900 million.
   Last year the port handled about 796,023 TEUs and through November of this year, volume is 850,528 TEUs, which today is handled at a terminal operated by Hutchison Port Holdings.
   APMT’s sister company, Maersk Line, handles about 30 percent of the cargo moving through Lazaro Cardenas.
   Manuel Garmilla, senior director of terminal engineering for APMT, said focus of the intermodal capacity at the port is for the domestic cargo to major markets within Mexico, including Mexico City, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi and Monterrey.
   “We simply believe strongly in the Mexico market,” said Kim Fejfer, APM Terminals chief executive officer. “This new port will increase the country’s international trade competitiveness, attract more foreign investment and reduce logistics costs through higher operational efficiency.”
   Kansas City Southern Railway operates intermodal trains from the port to points both within Mexico and to the United States.
   Garmilla said current rail capacity is adequate for expected volumes, and “KCS Mexico is working with us to ensure adequate capacity in the future, both, in terms of infrastructure and processes.”
   While Lazaro Cardenas has sometimes been mentioned as an alternative to U.S. ports for cargo moving to and from the United States, the booming Mexican economy is expected to drive most of the cargo growth at Lazaro Cardenas, said Ted Prince, a consultant and former executive at Kansas City Southern.
   He said while Lazaro Cardenas may still be attractive to some U.S. shippers moving cargo to the Houston market, for example, six to seven years ago there was more interest in alternate routing through Mexico because of capacity concerns in the United States.
   Since then, he said capacity has been freed up at U.S. West Coast ports, and new terminals are planned in Los Angeles and Long Beach. He added U.S. railroads have become more fluid.
   Unlike Prince Rupert in British Columbia, which is closer to many Asian markets and is generally a first inbound port of call for liner carriers which then call at U.S. ports, Lazaro Cardenas is often called after ships have already discharged cargo in California.
   Garmilla said APMT is designing the terminal “to take advantage of the new port and customs processes and access infrastructure. The gate process should be streamlined, the efficiency of the intermodal operation will allow for increased traffic compared to TEC I (the terminal operated by Hutchison) and we will implement electrical RTGs (rubber-tire gantry cranes) with a significant reduction in emissions.”
   In the first phase of the project, APMT will invest $300 million to build a 106-acre container yard, 650-meter quay with two berths, an administration building, warehouse, gates and modern on-dock rail facilities to serve increasing intermodal cargo volumes to Mexico City and cities as far north as Monterrey.
   It said new container handling equipment will also be purchased, including five super post-Panamax ship-to-shore gantry cranes and 17 rubber-tire gantry cranes, a fleet of trucks and other specialized equipment. The first phase will be completed in 2015 and start operations in the first quarter of that year.
   The terminal will then undergo a phased expansion “in accordance with provisions stipulated in the concession agreement and driven by commercial market demands,” APMT said.
   When completed, the Lazaro Cardenas terminal will have a total area of about 250 acres, 1,485 meters of quay, four berths and water depth in the channel and alongside of 16.5 meters (54 feet). – Chris Dupin