The President of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto, joined by the Prime Minister of Denmark Lars Løkke Rasmussen, today inaugurated APM Terminals Lazaro Cardenas, Latin America’s most technologically-advanced container terminal, with the capacity to receive the world’s largest ships and contribute significantly to Mexico’s future trade growth. The terminal represents an investment of more than US$900 million, the company said in its press release.
Among the thousand guests participating in the event, was the Constitutional Governor of Michoacan State, Silvano Aureoles Conejo. The ceremony marked the official opening of the deep-water terminal with an annual throughput capacity of 1.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot-equivalent containers). At full build-out the terminal will increase annual throughput capacity to more than four million TEUs in 2030.
Mexico is a core growth market for APM Terminals, part of A.P. Møller-Maersk’s Transport & Logistics business unit, and the new environmentally-friendly terminal will play a key role in serving clients looking to take advantage of trade opportunities predominantly to and from Asia, and across the rest of the Americas.
The terminal, which is the second terminal for APM Terminals in Mexico after APM Terminals Yucatan, is currently performing 30% above expectations in terms of container turnaround times in March, and is expected to improve operational efficiencies per container by 20%.
The terminal received its first official vessel call on February 27, 2017 with the arrival of the 9,600 TEU capacity Maersk Salalah, on the Maersk AC2 Transpacific service from Asia.
With the first phase of the terminal complete, APM Terminals Lazaro Cardenas covers 49 hectares, with a 750-meter quay and a depth of 16.5 meters, deep enough to accommodate the latest generation of Ultra-Large Container Ships. The terminal is equipped with five intermodal rail tracks and offers automated gate services.
Mexico handled 5.66 million TEUs in 2016, behind only Brazil and Panama in Latin American port container traffic volume.