New shipping routes highlight growing Asia-to-Mexico trade

MSC, CMA CGM and Cosco launch express shipping services connecting Asian countries to Mexico

MSC, CMA CGM and Cosco have started offering container shipping services from Asia directly to Mexico, calling at locations such as the Port of Manzanillo on the Pacific Coast. (Photo: Asipona)

A new sea route from Cosco Shipping Lines became operational on Monday, as several global ocean carriers have initiated services targeting Asia-to-Mexico trade.

In addition to Cosco, global ocean carriers Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM have launched services to tap into soaring container volumes and growing investment in Mexico by Chinese companies.

Cosco Shipping Lines and its subsidiary OOCL’s new Transpacific Latin Pacific 5 (TLP5) line offer direct connections between China, South Korea, Japan and Mexico.

“To enhance our network coverage in the emerging markets, we are very pleased to launch a new service TLP5 in our Asia Latin America network to provide a comprehensive port coverage in the regions,” OOCL said in a news release.

TLP5 offers transit times of 15 and 20 days from Qingdao, China, to the ports of Ensenada and Manzanillo, Mexico, respectively. The service will utilize eight ships of 4,000 to 6,000 twenty-foot equivalent units. TLP5 launched with the 5,668-TEU vessel Xin Da Lian from Ningbo, China.

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    3 Comments

    1. Mark Pawlaczyk

      I whole heartly agree with China avoiding US tariffs by channeling goods through Mexico. Unfortunately a lot of people in the US don’t care but need to before its to late.

    2. John Licht

      Both Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific – Kansas City Southern are typically north-south transcon corridors. Both cut directly across central USA reaching inland Midwest customers and shippers’ markets with reduced transit time and cost. Canadian and Mexico ports do not suffer from the constant congestion nor mandated environmental restriction of LA-Long Beach. Demographically, Freight corridors will change from east-west to north south. Also, Mexico’s construction project of a coast-to-coast heavy duty capability rail corridor at its southern border to replace the drying up of the Panama Canal will create new demographic challenges. Mexico has replaced China as USA’s second largest importer still behind Canda.
      Mexico is rapidly become its own major global financial – economic powerhouse.
      China’s ability to compete globally declines daily. Over 40% of its population has “grey out” of its labor force. These individuals still have to be fed and housed. Its super baby restriction has created an alarming declining birth rate. It no longer can prove cheap labor to compete against other countries including India, Mexico, Vietnam, and others. China likes to boast but grows more and more like a paper tiger by the day. Biden’s tariffs have taken a lot of wind out of its sails.

    3. Edwin Davenport

      Ot is so obvious that China is shipping to Mexico is to avoid US tariffs. Wake up, people. China is not our friend. Their goal is to conquer us.

    Comments are closed.

    Noi Mahoney

    Noi Mahoney is a Texas-based journalist who covers cross-border trade, logistics and supply chains for FreightWaves. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in English in 1998. Mahoney has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working for newspapers in Maryland and Texas. Contact nmahoney@freightwaves.com