Mexico plans to resume iron ore exports at its Lazaro Cardenas port, in Michoacan, Mexico, according to media reports. Export activity was halted in 2013 after drug cartels were revealed to be illegally shipping iron ore to China.
Michoacan is Mexico’s largest iron ore producer, and the Lazaro Cardenas port benefits from a strategic position in the Pacific coast. Reports say Mexico’s navy was fighting the shipments.
“There are two permits [exports] that were delivered and we hope to regularize the port’s situation soon,” an official said in an interview with local media.
According to reports at the time, the cartel was exporting iron ore as a way to “diversify” their operations, dominating much of iron ore supply chain in the region.