APort Privatization Program is under way in Mexico aimed at modernizing infrastructure and enhancing the country’s competitiveness as a facilitator of global trade. Plans to upgrade six key ports with public investment of $1.6 billion were announced by the government in December 2024. In July, that figure rose to $2.96 billion. The government anticipates private investment at the six main ports and three others to reach nearly $12.95 billion for a combined public-private investment of almost $16 billion.
“Today, Mexico has 63 port terminals across 18 strategic ports, where 82% of the investment is private, while the federal government provides the remaining 18%,” notes Mexican business expansion consultancy Prodensa in a December 2024 report, ‘Mexico’s Port Terminals: The Backbone of International Trade Efficiency.’ “This model has been highly successful, but it faces significant challenges. Sustained growth in demand, technological changes and increased maritime traffic demand resilient and efficient infrastructure to maintain the country’s competitiveness in the global trade landscape.”
The six primary ports earmarked for public and private modernization investment are:
- Ensenada, a marine freight and cruise terminal on the Baja California Pacific coast ($490 million investment);
- Manzanillo, in the state of Colima on Mexico’s west coast, the primary port for Pacific Ocean container shipping ($6 billion);
- Lázaro Cárdenas, in the state of Michoacán on the Pacific coast, the largest Mexican seaport with annual cargo capacity of 25 million tons ($700 million);
- Acapulco, a tourism-based port on the Pacific Ocean ($24 million);
- Veracruz, a key port for imports and exports on Mexico’s Gulf Coast ($1.09 billion); and
- Progreso, a cargo and cruise port on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula ($671 million).
Three additional ports also will see private investment under the privatization program: Guaymas ($2.16 billion) and Topolobampo ($4.5 billion) on the Gulf of California coast in the states of Sonora and Sinaloa, respectively, and Altamira ($43 million) north of Tampico on the Gulf Coast.
Terminal operators and developers such as Hutchinson Ports, SSA Marine and APM Terminals are key players in Mexico’s plan to modernize its port infrastructure. All three are actively investing in the Lázaro Cárdenas port. APM Terminals earlier this year installed six Automated Rail Mounted Gantry (ARMG) cranes at the facility in advance of its $165 million expansion planned for 2026. It previously invested $900 million in a terminal at the port that opened in 2017.
“At APM Terminals Mexico, we’re dedicated to supporting the country’s infrastructure, industry and, most importantly, its people,” said Beatriz Yera, managing director of APM Terminals Mexico, announcing the installation of the cranes. “This investment demonstrates our long-term vision of developing intelligent, efficient and sustainable ports ready for global competition.”
A development phase planned for between 2027 and 2030 will bring APM Terminals’ freight capacity at Lázaro Cárdenas to more than 4 million TEU.
APM Terminals installed six electric cranes earlier this year at its facility at the Lázaro Cárdenas port on the Pacific coast.
