Container Facilities at Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico

The Port of Lázaro Cárdenas (located in the city of the same name, formerly Melchor Ocampo) was developed in the 1970s as part of the Government of Mexico's program to construct a large integrated steel mill on the Pacific coast. Container handling facilities were slow to develop at the Port during the first 20 years of operation, but with the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and an increase in globalisation and consequently trade between Mexico and Asia, the expansion of the container handling facilities at the Port accelerated. Recently, the Hutchison Port Holdings Group (HPH) embarked on a major expansion of the container terminal facilities at the Port, commissioning a greenfield terminal to be constructed in four phases with the ability to handle Super Post-Panamax vessels. This paper reviews the planning of the terminal expansion and examines some of the issues affecting its design and construction. One of the key considerations of the expansion was the provision of adequate rail links into the US market, and consequently, securing customs agreements to allow unfettered access into the southern and Midwest US. Phase 1 of this expansion is now complete with an annual capacity of 650,000 TEUs, 600 m of quay structure, and 43 hectares of container and intermodal yards. The design of Phase II was completed in 2008 and prepared for tender. Currently, the project has been placed on hold pending an improvement in the financial market. When completely built-out, the terminal will have an annual capacity of 2.6 Million TEUs, 1500 m of quay and 90 hectares of container and intermodal yards.