The Manzanillo Terminals and Operators Association (ASTOM) begins a new stage with the appointment of Manuel Fernández Pérez as president of the organization , at a time when the port of Manzanillo faces operational pressures derived from the dynamism of foreign trade and expansion projects that seek to maintain its leadership in the Mexican port system.
The arrival of Fernández Pérez, who also serves as CEO of SSA Marine Mexico , comes after a period of institutional consolidation for the association, which in recent years has sought to position itself as an articulating voice of the main terminal players and operators of the most important port in the country in container movement.
Within the port sector, expectations revolve around ASTOM’s ability to maintain an agenda focused on logistical competitiveness , operational coordination, and addressing the challenges facing Manzanillo, particularly regarding saturation, land mobility, infrastructure, and supply chain efficiency.
The association is also undergoing a change marked by the management of José Antonio Contreras Ruiz , CEO of Contecon Manzanillo , who led the organization for the last three years and participated in the process of forming and strengthening ASTOM as a representation of the terminal sector in Manzanillo.
During that period, the association gained visibility in discussions related to port capacity, coordination between authorities and operators, as well as the need to promote investments that allow responding to the sustained growth of cargo in the port of Colima.
The change in the presidency of ASTOM also coincides with a key stage for Manzanillo, where port expansion projects , operational modernization and greater efficiency demands from shipping lines, terminals and logistics users converge.
In this context, the organization’s leadership becomes relevant not only for the operators located in the port, but also for the articulation of strategies that allow the competitiveness of one of the most important logistics hubs for Mexican foreign trade to be sustained.
For the period January-April of this year, the port of Manzanillo has handled 1,352,970 twenty-foot containers (TEUs) in import, export and transshipment services, just 4.7% more than in the same period last year, according to official statistics from the port authority.
In terms of volume, the port handled 10 million 446 thousand 513 tons of goods in the first four months of the year – including petroleum products – reflecting an annual increase of 0.3 percent.
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