Finally. After just over three weeks of chaos at the port of Manzanillo, Mexico’s National Customs Agency (ANAM) held a meeting with the business and logistics sectors to present the work carried out to resolve the operational problem that arose at the country’s main maritime hub in the Pacific, following protests by customs workers themselves.
According to information shared with T21 by various members of the meeting—held on June 2—it was indicated that ANAM, led by Rafael Marín Mollinedo , has provided personnel from central areas (deputy directors, directors, and department heads) to assist with customs inspections in Manzanillo.
Workers at the Manzanillo customs office demonstrated twice in mid-May, paralyzing the entry and exit of transport vehicles from the port in protest of poor working conditions and unjustified dismissals since Captain Rodolfo Torres Chávez took over the customs office a month earlier.
Just over four thousand units enter the port of Manzanillo daily, so the protests caused significant delays in the import and export of goods .
It wasn’t until Wednesday, June 4th that SSA Marine Mexico‘s specialized container terminal was able to breathe. “Operations are back to normal. Therefore, we have resumed the usual number of available appointments,” the American company stated in a statement to its customers.
At the meeting held by ANAM with the business leaders, it was also noted that measures have been implemented to improve the port’s operations. For example, access codes to the customs inspection system are being resolved for verification personnel ; merchandise clearances under consultation status are being released more quickly; efforts are being made to make better use of appointment times for Mondays and Tuesdays of each week; and appointments are being fully capacitated at the inspected facilities.
Likewise, the open-door option for empty vehicles will remain in place , and operations will be carried out with ZBV scanning, a vehicle cargo inspection unit, and the modulation schedule will continue from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. upon departure from the controlled areas.
In addition, ANAM agreed to provide an organizational chart to show how the different areas of the Manzanillo customs office were integrated.
In addition to Rafael Marín Mollinedo, the meeting was attended by representatives of the Confederation of Industrial Chambers (Concamin) , the Mexican Business Council for Foreign Trade, Investment and Technology (Comce) , the National Chamber of Cargo Transportation (Canacar) and the Confederation of Associations of Customs Agents of the Mexican Republic (Caaarem) .
A couple of days before the meeting, Canacar itself, through its president Miguel Ángel Martínez, had stated that the sector was on the verge of bankruptcy due to non-payments to leasing companies, insurance companies, suppliers, and staff.
Based on statistics from the General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Marine (CGPMM) , an office of the Ministry of the Navy , in the accumulated January-April 2025, a total of one million 291 thousand 720 containers (TEU) have been operated in the port of Manzanillo , a growth of just 1.5% compared to the same period in 2024, and we will have to wait for the results of May with these situations that have been faced.
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