For years, Puerto Chiapas was identified as a fishing port, closely linked to the tuna fleet and with commercial activity limited by structural factors that hindered its growth. Today, the narrative is beginning to change. The 2025-2030 Port Development Master Plan (PMDP) outlines a path to transform it into a logistics platform with greater regional integration, while those who work there daily affirm that the conditions to unleash this potential are beginning to align. For Zaire Osorio, CEO of Zaire Shipping Mexico , the port is at a turning point where infrastructure, public policy, and a renewed vision of the role of the south-southeast in Mexican foreign trade converge.
The guiding document of the National Port System Administration (Asipona) for Puerto Chiapas outlines a strategy aimed at diversifying cargo, strengthening connectivity with Central America, and consolidating the port as a logistics hub complementary to the development of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT) , which already includes 14 Development Hubs for Well-being. This vision resonates with the private sector stakeholders who have supported the port’s evolution in recent years.
“It’s a good time to turn or turn again to the south, because we already have infrastructure (…) we have a port, airport, train and border,” says Osorio in an interview with T21, who believes that the current scenario differs completely from the one the region faced just a few years ago.
The management notes that Puerto Chiapas’s development remained stagnant in recent years due, among other factors, to changes in customs jurisdiction that altered incentives for international trade with Guatemala. No longer belonging to Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas, but rather depending on the Salina Cruz customs office in Oaxaca (a change that occurred on December 31, 2022), the management explains, the port lost some of the competitiveness that had historically characterized it as an international transit point to Central America. This situation began to reverse with the return to the Ciudad Hidalgo customs section (effective May 15, 2025), a decision that, from their perspective, restores some of the port’s logistical focus.
PMDP itself recognizes Central America as one of the natural markets to drive the port’s growth, particularly through increased trade with Guatemala and the development of regional logistics chains . Its current jurisdiction over the Ciudad Hidalgo customs office brings the port closer to its goal of capturing the regional market.
Comment and follow us on LinkedIn: @Enrique Duarte Rionda / @GrupoT21
