Mexico Plans Historic Investment to Expand Port of Manzanillo

Mexico is planning a generational investment in the Port of Manzanillo, its primary container gateway on the Pacific Coast. The $3 billion expansion program will quadruple its acreage and more than double its container capacity from 3.7 to 10 million TEU per year by 2030. The ambitious project5 would make Manzanillo the largest container port in Latin America, and would help fuel a surge of near-shore manufacturing investment in a key American trading partner. 

Mexico's national port agency, ASIPONA, announced the initiative Wednesday in advance of a formal declaration from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. The new port complex will have four container terminals, as well as piers for petroleum product handling. When completed, it should be enough to put Manzanillo in the ranks of the world's top-15 container ports. 

Road and rail capacity issues have limited throughput at Manzanillo, and Mexico's thriving manufacturing sector has been pushing for more investment in infrastructure to modernize the facility. In August, a customs database issue caused traffic to back up at the port for two days, according to local logistics companies. 

Manzanillo is also a hub for smuggling, and Mexican organized crime groups ship untold quantities of illegal drug precursors through the port. This makes it a dangerous place, even for the Mexican Navy, which oversees customs at the seaport. Two weeks ago, gunmen on a motorcycle shot and killed Rear Adm. Fernando Ruben Guerrero, a former top customs official, as he was driving through Manzanillo. No suspects have been identified. Colima, the state surrounding Manzanillo, was the most violent in Mexico last year, measured by murders per capita.