The export of new cars by sea in Mexico has shown a constant acceleration in the first half of this year (1H24).

In the accumulated January-June 2024, Mexican ports had handled 697,565 units sent abroad , a figure 18% higher when compared to the record for the first half of 2023, according to statistics from the General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Marine (CGPMM) , of the Secretary of the Navy (Semar) .

However, in detail, not all ports have maintained this growth rate.

On the Mexican Pacific side, the ports total 125,273 units , this is 15% lower in the interannual comparison.

In this case, the port of Mazatlán suffers a year-on-year drop of 59% in automobile exports, adding only 2,423 units.

The port of Lázaro Cárdenas , for its part, totals 122,850 cars sent abroad, 13.3% less than in 1H23.

A different story is told on the Gulf of Mexico side , with 572,292 units maneuvered in total or 29.1% more.

On this coast, the port of Altamira has been the “winner”, with 243,820 cars exported in the reference period, 54.8% more.

The port of Veracruz , the port with the highest automotive activity in the Gulf, adds 279,671 units in the first half of 2024, a year-on-year decrease of just 2 percent.

Two special cases have been the ports of Tuxpan and Progreso which, if they had no export records last year, in the first half of 2024 they total 48,798 and three, respectively.

Imports in decline

Meanwhile, the import activity of new automobiles through the port route in Mexico added its fourth consecutive month of negative records in June.

In general, imports totaled 432,557 new units in 1H24 or a year-on-year drop of 7.8 percent.

The Gulf ports have been the ones that have pushed this general decline, with 133,382 units (-32%), while on the Pacific side there is a record of 299,175 cars (+10%) , driven by the arrival of new brands of Asian origin.

The boost in imports has been manifested in the port of Mazatlán, with 91,572 units (+67.1%).

The other ports show negative or insignificant figures .

In general, Mexican ports have operated 1,130,122 units in the first half of this year in high-altitude services (import and export), a figure 6.6% higher than that shown in the first half of last year.

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El cargo Mexico “Accelerates” in Automobile Exports via Ports; Imports Lag Behind apareció primero en T21.

MANZANILLO, COL.- The efficiency of a commercial port as a whole is built based on the strength and coordination between all the links that make it up. Maritime terminals play a more than essential, even leading, role in this operational dynamic, in which a minimum detail can be the difference between winning or losing, speaking in terms of market competitiveness.

In the 25 years in which Hutchison Ports TIMSA has operated in the port of Manzanillo, it has not lost sight of this compass. Its strategy has been based on constant process innovation, but also on the development of specialized human capital that is immersed every day in the movement of goods, as well as in customer service.

The history of this multipurpose terminal goes hand in hand with the investment commitment that Hutchison Ports , with headquarters in Hong Kong, has developed in Mexico since the 90s of the last century.

The entry into force of the modern Ports Law in 1993 triggered the participation of private capital in ports. Based on this, this business group, with a broad presence in ports on the five continents, took advantage of the opportunity to install a series of maritime terminals in Mexican ports.

Veracruz and Ensenada were his first precision darts.

Then, at the end of the millennium, came the bidding for spaces in the Colima port by the federal authority and which, in the end, would become the main maritime hub (connection center) on the Mexican Pacific coast for the handling of different types of merchandise, mainly containerized merchandise. Jorge M. Lecona, leader of the company in the country and Latin America , as well as his management team did not hesitate to present a project with which they would finally win the concession for the multi-use terminal.

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El cargo TIMSA: A Quarter Century of Continuous Evolution apareció primero en T21.

The United States Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) reported Friday that it has requested additional information on Gemini Cooperation , an operational collaboration between Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk that was scheduled to come into effect next week.

“The Federal Maritime Commission needs more information to determine the possible competitive impacts of the agreement,” said this independent federal agency in a statement.

Both companies, two of the largest shipping lines in the world, announced this alliance at the beginning of this year, but it was not until May 31 that they presented the agreement to the FMC, opening a period of 45 days before its entry into valid unless additional information (RFAI) is requested.

The agreement would allow these companies to share ships on routes between the United States and Asia, the Middle East and Europe .

“The Commission has determined that the Gemini Cooperation Agreement as presented lacks sufficient details to allow a complete analysis of its possible competitive impacts,” it said in the statement, although it avoided specifying what information it is requesting.

The Commission has 45 days from the time it determines that the responses to the information request are considered complete to review the agreement for legal and competition issues before it takes effect.

Additionally, he indicated that a 15-day public comment period will open once the RFAI public notice is published in the Federal Register next week.

The Gemini Cooperation Agreement would have come into force on Monday, July 15, 2024, without this commission action.

The cooperation between Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk will comprise a fleet of around 290 vessels with a combined capacity of 3.4 million 20-foot containers (TEU); Maersk will deploy 60% and Hapag-Lloyd 40 percent.

As a consequence of joining this cooperation, Hapag-Lloyd will leave THE Alliance at the end of January 2025 . In January 2023, Maersk and MSC announced that the 2M alliance will end in January 2025.

In their initial statement, Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk planned for the Gemini Cooperation to begin in February 2025 .

The cooperation will cover 7 markets: Asia / West Coast of the United States, Asia / East Coast of the United States, Asia / Middle East, Asia / Mediterranean, Asia / Northern Europe, Middle East – India / Europe and Transatlantic.

According to the maritime consulting firm Alphaliner, Maersk is the second largest shipping line in the world with four million 333 thousand 686 20-foot containers (TEU) under its management and 713 vessels; while Hapag-Lloyd, in fifth position, has two million 161 thousand 435 TEU and 286 ships.

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El cargo Federal Maritime Commission Stops Alliance Between Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk apareció primero en T21.

The shipping company Ocean Network Express (ONE) announced on Thursday the opening of a new maritime service that will connect Asia with the west coast of Mexico , joining other shipping lines that seek to take advantage of the demand for capacity between these points, mainly in shipments of Asian goods to the Latin American country.

The new ONE service will be called Asia Latin America Express 4 (ALX4) and will rotate Shanghai – Busan – Lázaro Cárdenas – Shanghai.

“This new service will offer customers a premium loop rotation serving trade between North Asia and Mexico, as well as additional network coverage and frequency between Asia and Mexico. “ALX4 joins our existing ALX1, ALX2 and ALX3 services to provide an extensive network connecting Asia and South America,” according to a statement from the shipping line.

ONE ranks as the sixth largest maritime container carrier in the world, managing 1,915,867 20-foot containers (TEU) and 243 container ships, according to Alphaliner data updated as of July 11.

ONE joins other shipping lines, such as CMA CGM , MSC , Cosco Shipping and Hapag-Lloyd , which have announced in recent months new maritime services linking the coasts of Southeast Asia with those of western Mexico.

In the first five months of this year, Mexican Pacific ports had operated two million 716 thousand 934 TEU , 17.9% more than in the same period last year, where one million 069 thousand 503 TEU have been in import services or 15.9 % more, according to the comparison periods, according to data from the General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Marine , of the Ministry of the Navy .

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El cargo ONE Launches New Asia-Mexico Service; Will Only Arrive at One Mexican Port apareció primero en T21.

The promised Fourth Port Transformation never arrived. Rather, the six-year term of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been the scene of a widely criticized recomposition of the administration of the maritime-port sector in Mexico and which, according to specialists in the matter, has resulted in operational setbacks and substantial increases in costs for companies with activities in foreign trade, at a time when the country requires greater agility in the handling of merchandise, mainly in the face of the growing wave of Asian imports that has impacted the ports of the Mexican Pacific.

In an interview for T21 magazine published in its January 2019 edition (volume 233), Héctor López Gutiérrez , appointed a month earlier as head of the General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Marine (CGPMM) – at that time still in the hands of the Ministry of Communications and Transportation (SCT) – outlined the strategy that the incoming federal administration would follow.

In its route plan, the creation of the Coastal Port Intermodal Systems (Sipcos) had been roughly outlined , that is, the main cargo handling ports in the country would be grouped into five regional blocks that would encourage the comprehensive development of coastal businesses, maritime and port. In the vision of Héctor López, this “renewal” would give a twist to the exhausted model of the Comprehensive Port Administrations (API) that were born with the Ports Law of 1993, at the same time that it would be focused on granting a socioeconomic benefit to the towns interconnected with the ports.

The Sipcos would never see the light of day, since the federal government was preparing an alternative strategy that would resonate in all business sectors, even those related to maritime-port activity, that is, the entry of the Armed Forces into public administration.

In this way and after six months in which various legislative changes were made, on June 7, 2021, the transfer of the CGPMM to the Secretariat of the Navy (Semar) was completed , a movement whose main objective was the fight against the introduction of illegal merchandise into ports, as precursors for the production of synthetic drugs; although the idea was also raised in President López Obrador’s morning conferences that the ports had been “privatized”, so the State would come to “recover” their control , despite the fact that the government itself is the one who had been granting port concessions, hand in hand with the APIs, to the different private players.

However, as administrator of Mexican ports, the Navy would enter a terrain in which it would still have to begin a pronounced learning curve , hand in hand with the introduction of sailors also in the administration of maritime customs, both facts unprecedented in the country, which would end up doubly affecting the operation in the ports.

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El cargo The Port Transformation That “Drowned” apareció primero en T21.

The ports of Altamira and Mazatlán have taken a greater participation in port maneuvers for the automotive industry in terms of finished vehicles for import and export.

Altamira registers an advance of 52.1% in the first five months of this year compared to the same period last year, with 209 thousand 265 units operated, mostly for shipments abroad (205 thousand 664 units), according to data from the General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Marine (CGPMM) , of the Secretary of the Navy (Semar) .

Taking into account that the ports on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico operated 581,593 vehicles in the reference period, Altamira had a participation of 35.9%, while last year it was 26.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the port of Mazatlán has operated 78,249 units in the period January-May 2024, an annual growth of 73.1 percent.

Contrary to Altamira, most of the vehicles that Mazatlán operated were in import services, with 75,826 units .

The units that were maneuvered in Mazatlán in the first five months of the year give it a share of 22.9% with respect to the total registered by the Mexican Pacific ports, while last year it was barely 12.9 percent.

Both ports have served as an outlet for other ports that are traditionally used by shipping and automotive lines for the embarkation or disembarkation of new units, such as Veracruz or Lázaro Cárdenas, and which have even recorded negative numbers.

The first of them, Veracruz, added 330,343 vehicles in the reference period, an annual decline of 11.7 percent. The second, Lázaro Cárdenas, registered 261,742 units or 13.3% less.

In total, Mexican ports have added 922,623 units from January to May 2024 , with an annual increase of 6.9 percent.

According to statistics from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) , of the 585,721 new units that have been marketed in Mexico in the first five months of this year, 66.4% of them have been imported into the country ; a similar proportion was observed in sales for all of 2023.

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El cargo Altamira and Mazatlán Ports Gain Share in Car Movement apareció primero en T21.

The cargo moved through Mexican ports has totaled 115 million 645 thousand 148 tons during January-May 2024 , considering high-altitude movements and cabotage, a decline of 2.4% compared to the same period last year, influenced due to the falls in bulk minerals and oil and derivatives.

The statistics of the General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Marine (CGPMM) showed in its latest report that loose general cargo had an increase of 7.6% in the compared periods, to reach 14 million 005 thousand 104 tons.

Meanwhile, general containerized cargo reached 24 million 127 thousand 910 tons, with a rebound of 12.6 percent.

Agricultural bulk , for its part, closed the first five months of this year with the handling of eight million 345 thousand 160 tons or an advance of 5.4 percent.

Mineral bulk showed a downward adjustment of 16.5% in the January-May 2024 period vs. same period of 2023, with 21 million 488 thousand 162 tons operated in Mexican ports.

Other fluids continued with a positive trend, adding four million 492 thousand 463 tons (+1.5%); but oil and derivatives fell 6.1%, with 43 million 186 thousand 349 tons, according to CGPMM statistics.

Mexican ports have been one of the main witnesses of the arrival of goods related to the industrial trend of nearshoring (relocation of production lines) that the country is experiencing, which is why private terminals have begun to make operational and infrastructure adjustments to be able to meet the demand that arises.

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El cargo Cargo Movement in Mexican Ports Decreases by 2.4% apareció primero en T21.

The financial results disclosed by the CMA CGM Group for the first quarter of this year (1Q24) reflect the impacts of geopolitical tensions, especially in the Red Sea area where shipping lines are facing operational complications in navigating the Suez Canal, thus forcing them to take longer routes in their transoceanic services.

“After the market conditions deteriorated in the fourth quarter of 2023, the first quarter of 2024 was marked by a resurgence in spot transportation rates, primarily due to disruptions in the Red Sea region. The resulting longer travel times through the Cape of Good Hope have affected available shipping capacity amid a rebound in demand,” according to the quarterly report of the French-origin logistics integrator.

For 1Q24, the group generated revenues of $11.834 billion, a 7% decrease compared to the same quarter last year. Likewise, EBITDA totaled $2.390 billion, representing a decline of 30.3%, while the EBITDA margin stood at 20.2%, down by 6.8 points.

Similarly, the net income for the quarter stood at $785 million, marking a 61% decrease compared to the same quarter of 2023.

These group results contrast with the annual increase of 11.7% in the transportation of 20-foot containers (TEU), which reached 5.6 million during 1Q24.

“The increase is due to higher-than-expected global merchandise trade and freight transportation demand, driven by a consumption rebound and inventory rebuilding following the lows of 2023,” according to CMA CGM.

Meanwhile, the consolidated revenues of CMA CGM’s maritime transportation operations division amounted to $7.9 billion during the quarter, an 11.4% year-on-year decrease. EBITDA amounted to $1.9 billion, down by 35.8% compared to the first quarter of 2023. The EBITDA margin was 24.8%, 9.4 points lower. Average revenues per TEU stood at $1,400, a 20.7% year-on-year decrease.

In its logistics division, revenues reached $3.887 billion in the first quarter of the year, just 0.6% above 1Q23. EBITDA stood at $361 million, a 6.9% increase compared to the first quarter of 2023.

During the first quarter, the group’s logistics activities were particularly driven by the consolidation of Bolloré Logistics as of February 29 and by the momentum of Contract Logistics, Finished Vehicle Logistics, and Land Transport, especially in Europe.

Additionally, revenues from other activities (port terminals, CMA CGM Air Cargo, media, etc.) increased by 45.4% to $600 million. EBITDA increased by 43.6% to $79 million, driven by the inclusion of Port Liberty in the consolidation scope and the recovery of terminal business volumes.

CMA CGM indicated that uncertainties in the macroeconomic and geopolitical environment could continue to cause fluctuations in the transportation and logistics market, affecting its fluidity and seasonality.

Moreover, it is expected that the commissioning of new constructions will continue to outpace forecasted demand, ultimately affecting the balance between supply and demand and, by extension, freight rates.

In this environment, it asserted that cost control, punctuality, and the level of service provided to its customers will be essential drivers of competitiveness and differentiation.

“In a context of industry normalization, our group has demonstrated its agility and resilience to adapt to the new market conditions. Our shipping division achieved solid performance, driven by restocking in China and the United States. As for our logistics business, the acquisition of Bolloré Logistics gives us the critical mass we need to better withstand cyclical changes. In 2024, a year that remains uncertain due to the crisis in the Red Sea, CMA CGM will continue to meet the needs of its customers as effectively as possible. We will stay the course with our strategic investments, whether in decarbonization or artificial intelligence,” according to Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of the CMA CGM Group.

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El cargo Geopolitical Upheavals Impact CMA CGM’s Results apareció primero en T21.