According to the Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina (CAF) or the Latin American Development Bank, Mexico requires an investment of $16 billion to address its ports as it looks to 2040.
According to its recent 2040 report, authored by the Vice President of Infrastructure Rafael Farromeque, the CAF estimates that the region should invest $55 billion dollars in the next two decades to “achieve competitiveness.” Development of the ports is a significant portion of the strategic plan.
Mexico has 11 percent of the port traffic in Latin America and the Caribbean with 5.1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (MTEU). It encountered a 7.3 percent annual growth in the 2008-2014 period according to the report.
Due to its location and relevance in the Latin American zone, Mexico is one of the principal countries for connectivity with 36 maritime service centers with a total capacity of 7.6 million TEU’s.
The CAF recommends an investment in updated capacity through the Mexican ports that would required $4 billion in the short-term to 2025 and $12 billion additional in the long-term to 2040. The bank noted that 75 percent of the investment in the short-term would be focused in the Pacific Ocean in the principal areas of Manzanillo y Lázaro Cárdenas. The region is especially important in supporting the routes to Asia. The remaining 25 percent of the short-term investment will be slated for the Gulf of Mexico. The principal ports for the US and EU markets on the Atlantic side are Veracruz-Tuxpan and Altamira.
The recommended investment is expected to meet the Latin American container capacity of 113 million TEUs by 2040 (Mexico 20 percent, South Pacific 26 percent, and Central America with Caribbean at 35 percent).