Ensenada, B.C. – COSCO Shipping Lines revealed the importance of Mexico for its maritime business. The Chinese shipping line inaugurated its new direct service (WSA5) between Asia and the Latin American country last week, aiming to improve transport times for the growing wave of imported goods from the Far East that have been registered in the Mexican market.

The WSA5 rotation, on a weekly basis, includes calls to the Asian ports of Busan (South Korea), Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo (China), and Yokohama (Japan); while in Mexico it will call at the ports of Ensenada, Manzanillo, and Lázaro Cárdenas.

“It reflects the attention COSCO Shipping is giving to the Mexican market as a growing market that is bringing many opportunities. At the same time, the Mexican market has limited logistical resources, so COSCO Shipping intends to deploy its resources in Mexico to help solve these challenges,” Fu Hua, general manager of COSCO Shipping Lines Mexico, told T21.

The executive described that the company seeks to expand its “door-to-door” coverage, deploying greater capacity in ships to connect and serve these markets (Asia and Mexico), as well as strengthening cooperation with its partners in the most important Mexican ports, precisely to develop integrated solutions for its clients, exploring deeper cooperation opportunities and strengthening its land service resources by reaching strategic partnerships with local providers.

Official data indicates that from January to April 2024, Mexican ports handled just over 2.9 million 20-foot containers (TEU) in import services, representing an increase of 17.7% compared to the same period in 2023. Specifically, Pacific ports, mostly receiving imports from the Far East, saw an 18.9% growth.

“We are working to provide solutions and facilitate inland cargo movement in Mexico in cooperation with our various partners, introducing special services such as unit train delivery, fast delivery with exclusive pickup, and road transport,” said Fu Hua.

Platform for Mexican Exports

COSCO Shipping Lines’ new WSA5 service also offers an alternative for Mexican exporters looking to timely place their products in Asian markets. For example, Bachoco, a food production company, ships at least 2,500 tons of products to Japan monthly, requiring space for about 320 to 350 containers.

“We hope this new route will help us attract more customers and reach more destinations in Asia due to the competitive transit times it offers,” said Oswaldo Chariva, Export Manager of Bachoco, in an interview with T21.

A similar case is APLO, a Mexican freight forwarder, which seeks to reserve about 140 container spaces monthly to export its clients’ products such as grapes, nuts, cherries, zucchinis, avocados, and lemons, among other fresh products.

“Transit times for our goods are crucial,” said Adrián Pérez, General Director of APLO.

COSCO Shipping Lines’ WSA5 joins the transpacific service offerings between Asia and the west coast of Latin America (WSA) that the shipping line has been operating for several years, amid the increase in trade exchanges between these two regions of the world.

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