The main challenge facing Mexican ports today is not only to strengthen security controls, but also to prevent over-regulation from eroding the country’s operational efficiency and logistical competitiveness compared to other international markets.

For Luz Alicia Iturbe de Garay, Legal Advisor of the Integral Port Administration (API) of Tamaulipas , the lack of legal certainty has become one of the biggest obstacles to attracting investment to the port sector, even when there are infrastructure projects with high strategic potential.

“The uncertainty surrounding the direction our country is taking is generating this lack of confidence,” he stated during the conference “ Current Situation of the National Port System: Where We Are and Where We Should Be Going ,” organized by the Mexican College of Civil Engineers (CICM) . He recalled that the original spirit of the Ports Law was precisely to offer legal certainty to investors through Master Port Development Programs with a long-term vision of up to 30 years, considering the level of capital required to develop specialized terminals and acquire high-tech port equipment.

“All of this has meant that the operation and maneuvering of the port operation is done in the shortest possible time, and that puts the country’s ports in a competitive status,” he said.

In that context, he explained that currently the regulatory and technical supervision processes have become stricter, incorporating verifications that did not previously exist and that today slow down procedures and authorizations for infrastructure development.

He added that this is compounded by the delay in granting federal maritime-terrestrial zone concessions by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) , with files accumulating for up to six years awaiting resolution.

“We have procedures that have been pending for six years or more, and that stops investment, or, as has happened, prevents the construction of the dock and leads to the saying ‘it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission’,” he warned.

The specialist also pointed out that the change of control of the port sector from the then Ministry of Communications and Transportation — now the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation — to the Ministry of the Navy significantly changed the relationship with investors and transformed the regulatory processes.

“Previously, the relationship with investors was fostered because that is the job of a port administrator: to seek investment for their port . It is a company that is looking for investors, not driving them away. Sometimes being so strict in their military training distances us from the commercial aspect,” he commented.

In that sense, he considered that the current challenge of the Mexican port system is not only technical or legal, but also one of institutional integration , and therefore called for strengthening the coordination between authorities and specialized organizations in infrastructure, engineering and regulations.

The view was shared by Jesús Campos López, president of the XVI Board of Directors of the CICM, who maintained that the transfer of the port sector marked a turning point in the maritime-port governance of the country, by modifying regulatory processes, technical supervision schemes, priorities and authorization times for projects.

“Today we face other challenges, such as how to balance control and competitiveness , how to provide legal certainty to investors without sacrificing the State’s authority, and how to modernize our ports to respond to the demands and reorganization of global trade,” he explained.

Campos López added that, in addition to the regulatory component, structural challenges related to civil engineering persist, including dredging to maintain great depths , the expansion of docks and yards, last-mile rail and road connectivity, as well as the resilience of the infrastructure to climate change and extreme weather events.

“These are challenges that cannot be solved with a single discipline or a single institution,” he concluded.

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El cargo Port investment in Mexico demands certainty apareció primero en T21.

According to statistics from the National Port System of the  Secretariat of the Navy (Semar) , in March 2026 the movement of vehicles through Mexican ports fell by 3.5% compared to the same month in 2025 with 184,829 units, thus failing to recover from the decrease recorded last February, when it fell 20.9% year-on-year.

Although some ports reported declines in car traffic in the third month of the year, the port of Veracruz showed a 33.2% increase compared to March 2025, handling 82,185 units. Tuxpan, also in Veracruz, saw a 15.8% increase, with 3,804 units moved during the period, according to an analysis by T21 Business Intelligence .

In contrast, the port of Mazatlán, in Sinaloa, handled 8,778 units in March 2026, 46.6% less than in the third month of 2025 ; Altamira, in Tamaulipas, fell 27.1% with 38,149 vehicles moved; while the port of Lázaro Cárdenas, in Michoacán, declined 8.6% with the movement of 51,913 units in the reference period.

The negative figures recorded by several ports impacted the cumulative total for January-March 2026. The first quarter of the year saw a 4% contraction compared to the same period in 2025, with 441,765 vehicles handled . During the period, the port of Veracruz was the only one with positive numbers, reporting a 22.3% year-on-year increase with 171,598 units handled.

Conversely, Tuxpan saw a 24.7% drop in the cumulative total for the first three months of 2026 compared to the same period last year , with 6,637 vehicles moved. Altamira declined 19.1% with 89,461 units; and Lázaro Cárdenas decreased by 16%, moving 133,427 cars.

Meanwhile, Mazatlán experienced a slight contraction of 0.5% in the accumulated January-March 2026 period compared to the same period in 2025, operating 40,642 units.

Regarding participation in March 2026, Veracruz accounted for  44% of vehicles mobilized ; Lázaro Cárdenas had 28%, Altamira 21%, Mazatlán 5% and Tuxpan 2%.

Despite the drop in vehicle traffic at the country’s ports in March 2026, car production in Mexico showed improvement during the third month of the year.

According to figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) , 343,520 light vehicles were manufactured in March 2026 , representing a 2.5 percent year-on-year increase. Additionally, 310,205 vehicles were exported, a 4.2 percent increase compared to the same month in 2025.

Meanwhile, in the first quarter of 2026, 969,294 units were manufactured in Mexican plants , a 0.5% increase compared to the same period last year. During the January-March period of this year, 795,631 units were exported, a 2.5% increase over the same period in 2025.

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El cargo Vehicle traffic through Mexican ports decreases in March apareció primero en T21.

Based on the Global Indicator of Economic Activity (IGAE) of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) , last September this index registered a slowdown, settling at 104.2 points, down from 104.9 in the previous August , which is the second best of the year, only below April 2025 with 105.0 points

The behavior shown by the IGAE is reflected in the movement of containers through the National Port System, according to statistics shared by the General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Marine (CGPMM) .

An analysis by T21 Business Intelligence identified that last October there was a drop in the movement of 20-foot containers (TEUs), settling at 804,045, a figure 3% lower than the 828,512 that had been reached in the previous September.

According to CGPMM data, the highest container movement so far this year was reached in August 2025 , with 850,841 TEUs, which coincides with IGAE data.

The cumulative record for container movement in 2025 through October was 7,930,438 TEUs , a figure 2.2% higher than the 7,760,549 TEUs achieved in the same period of 2024.

The behavior of the National Port System is influenced by the main ports, where Manzanillo has a drop in the accumulated total, but Lázaro Cárdenas registered growth close to double digits.

In the review for each port, Manzanillo remains the main port in the country in the movement of containers, reaching last October its second best level of 2025, with 343,154 TEU .

In the accumulated period January–October 2025, Manzanillo totaled three million 223 thousand 363 TEUs , a drop of 0.9% compared to the 2024 record, as shown in the following graph.

As for Lázaro Cárdenas, although the October record of 209,019 TEUs is far from its best record of the year, the accumulated total of 2,161,847 TEUs showed an 8.7% growth compared to the same period in 2024, according to figures collected by T21 Business Intelligence of the CGPMM.

On the Gulf of Mexico coast, the port of Veracruz is the busiest in terms of container traffic, handling 115,326 TEUs last October . This is the third best record for the Veracruz port in 2025.

In cumulative figures to October 2025, Veracruz totaled 1,076,956 TEUs , which was 0.7% lower than the 2024 figure, when it stood at 1,084,291 TEUs.

Here we show the results by port in the monthly movement of containers for both 2024 and 2025.

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El cargo Container movement links second period with contraction apareció primero en T21.

All Mexican ports that handle maneuvers for the automotive industry with brand-new vehicles in deep-sea traffic have posted negative numbers during the first quarter of this year (1Q25).

Statistics from the General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Marine (CGPMM) , an office of the Navy , indicate that during the first three months of 2025, the movement of 460,201 automobiles was recorded, adding imports and exports, which meant a drop of 17.5% compared to the same period in 2024.

This figure was affected by the export of new units by sea, which during the reference period totaled 245,000 vehicles, a 30 percent annual decline.

The decline in automobile exports through ports comes amid the United States’ imposition of a 25% tariff on imported vehicles from Mexico, prompting automakers to modify their overseas shipping plans.

During the period from January to March 2025, 973,485 units were produced in Mexico , which represented a variation of 4.8% compared to the same period in 2024, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) .

Likewise, 775,866 units were exported in Q1 25 , a 6.0% decrease compared to Q1 24. The United States was the main destination for light vehicle exports, accounting for 83.0%.

In the case of imports, the story is different. New automobiles imported into the country through ports reached 215,201 units during the first quarter of 2025, just 4.4% higher than the first quarter of 2024.

On Mexico’s Pacific coast, the ports of Mazatlán and Lázaro Cárdenas saw declines of 20.5% and 0.6%, respectively, in the comparison periods, although in the case of the Michoacán port, car imports continue to show positive figures.

In the Gulf of Mexico, Altamira (-19%), Tuxpan (-60.3%) and Veracruz (-24.9) were no exception , except in the case of the port of Tamaulipas, which also recorded an increase in the import of units.

Vehicles transported by sea in deep-sea traffic, January-March (units)

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El cargo Port operations of new cars in Mexico drop 17.5%. apareció primero en T21.

The import of goods from Asia, transported by sea to the commercial ports of Mexico or the West Coast of Latin America, has seen a substantial increase in freight prices in April of this year.

Negotiators of these prices have noted that during the fourth month of this year, the average price of freight per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU) offered by shipping lines for the FAK market (freight of all kinds) has risen to $3,304, reflecting a monthly increase of 56.89%, according to the EAX Index, by Eternity Group Mexico.

This level in the tariff above three thousand dollars had not been seen since May 2023, according to the analysis of the Chinese-origin freight forwarder company.

In fact, the high demand seen in recent weeks for booking spaces on vessels, “exacerbated by congestion at origin and lack of available empty equipment in China,” has pushed the tariff up to nearly four thousand dollars per FEU, as stated in the monthly report of the indicator.

“Due to the Labor Day holiday in China (May 1), we observe that ports at origin continue to be congested and face serious short-term challenges, generating upward pressure on the tariff that will persist throughout May, even though MSC and CMA CGM will seek to deploy additional capacity in the trade with the launch of services dedicated to connecting Asia > Mexico,” said Eternity Group Mexico.

This company highlighted that during weeks 20 and 21 of this year, blank sailings will be implemented, reducing space capacity by approximately 19,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units), and transit times will also be impacted. Likewise, due to the high volatility in the FAK market, “it will not be absurd to see rates in May quoting in ranges around five thousand five hundred to six thousand five hundred dollars.”

Furthermore, it recommended carrying out advance planning in import operations to reduce the impact on logistics costs and, in the case of critical operations, advised against speculating with them.

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El cargo Surpassing $3000: Tariff Rates at Unprecedented Heights Since May 2023 apareció primero en T21.