The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) , through the General Directorate of Environmental Impact and Risk (DGIRA), determined to formally end the environmental impact assessment procedure of the project “Development of the New Manzanillo Port, in the Basin II of the Cuyutlán Lagoon” , promoted by the National Port System Administration (Asipona) Manzanillo .

Through Official Letter SRA/DGIRA/DG-10367-25 , dated December 17, 2025, the environmental authority resolved to “finalize the Environmental Impact Assessment Procedure and order its filing as a concluded matter,” considering it materially impossible to continue with the evaluation of the project under the current file (code 06CL2025V0012).

The resolution does not imply a suspension or an administrative prevention: it is a formal termination of the procedure, which legally extinguishes the ongoing environmental process and eliminates the possibility that the project will continue its evaluation under the environmental impact statement (MIA-R) originally submitted.

In practical terms, the DGIRA’s decision compels Asipona Manzanillo to completely restart the environmental process if it intends to continue developing the new port. The resolution itself stipulates that any modification or reconfiguration of the project must be processed through a new Environmental Impact Statement in the regional modality, with a new file, new technical studies, a new public consultation, and a new comprehensive evaluation.

A project that ceases to exist administratively

The document is clear in its institutional scope: the Puerto Nuevo Manzanillo project, as it was presented in the procedure initiated in August 2025, ceases to exist from an administrative and environmental standpoint. This is not a technical correction or an engineering adjustment, but rather the complete invalidation of the evaluation process .

The DGIRA concludes that the “alternative” presented by the promoter – a reconfiguration of the port design to reduce the impact on the mangrove and avoid direct intervention on the Cocodrilo I and II islands – actually constitutes a new project , with environmental impacts different from those originally evaluated.

Among the elements that support this determination are the modification of docks, dredging, terminal platforms, navigation routes and the hydrodynamic interaction of Basin II with the other basins of the Cuyutlán lagoon system (I, III and IV), which generates cumulative and synergistic impacts not considered in the initial MIA-R.

The environmental authority points out that this reconfiguration involves the occupation of new areas , the alteration of hydrological flows and sediment transport, as well as the need for new specialized technical studies, including hydrodynamic modeling, sediment balances, flora and fauna inventories, and regional impact analysis.

The mangrove as a turning point

One of the central points of the resolution is the impact on the mangrove ecosystem. The DGIRA concludes that, even with the alternative presented, the project still involves the removal and alteration of mangroves , an ecosystem subject to strict regulatory protection.

Furthermore, the document warns that the port operation would modify the physicochemical conditions of the water , generating a progressive deterioration of the habitat, with additional loss of mangroves, affecting associated species and weakening the ecological functionality of the lagoon system in the long term.

The resolution also identifies risks of contaminant dispersal towards basins III and IV of the Cuyutlán Lagoon, areas linked to the proposed creation of a Protected Natural Area, with possible impacts on fishing, resident and migratory birds, regional biodiversity and salt production.

From strategic project to restartable project

From an institutional perspective, Semarnat’s decision transforms the status of the New Manzanillo Port: it ceases to be a project under evaluation and becomes a project that can be restarted .

This implies that any attempt at development must be rebuilt from the zero phase of environmental planning, with new technical bases, new studies, new social consultations and a new comprehensive assessment of impacts, in an environment where the ecological component acquires a determining weight.

Strategically, the resolution reshapes the horizon for port expansion in Manzanillo . The new port ceases to be a short- or medium-term project and shifts towards a long-term planning approach, subject to complex processes of environmental assessment, territorial governance, and social legitimacy.

Beyond the administrative record, the document reflects a structural shift in the relationship between port expansion and environmental boundaries. The development of new logistics infrastructure in ecologically sensitive areas is no longer solely governed by technical engineering criteria and operational capacity, but also by an institutional framework that prioritizes ecosystem integrity , public participation, and cumulative regional impacts.

The New Manzanillo Port project was not rejected in terms of future viability, but it was legally deactivated in its current configuration. From this point forward, any new attempt must be built under a completely different approach: not as a port expansion, but as a new project that is environmentally, territorially, and socially validated from its inception.

A multi-year project

The project for a new port in Cuyutlán is neither a recent nor a circumstantial idea: it is an initiative that has endured decades of failed attempts, technical redesigns, and planning adjustments without ever coming to fruition . However, it was during the administration of Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum that this proposal received more direct and structured institutional attention, to the point that, within the strategic plan, it was projected that at least one container terminal could be operational in the area before 2030.

Despite this, the constant factor preventing its realization has always been the same: environmental viability . The ecological complexity of the Cuyutlán lagoon system, the presence of mangroves, the hydrodynamic fragility of the ecosystem, and the cumulative regional impacts have transformed the environmental component not into an administrative obstacle, but into the true structural limitation of the project.

In one of his last public appearances as general director of Asipona Manzanillo, Admiral Guillermo Mejía George had announced that by October 2025, letters of interest had been received from the 13 most important shipping companies and terminals worldwide to participate in the future tenders for the Cuyutlán project.

“The next terminal will be put out to tender in July 2026 (…) and the first terminal will be operational in 2028-2029 ,” Mejía George announced during his participation in the XXIX Annual Congress of Shipping Agents, organized by the Mexican Association of Shipping Agents (Amanac) .

The new port facility planned by Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, located about 30 kilometers from the current port, would cover approximately 1,880 hectares, an area four times larger than the current port of Manzanillo . It would specialize in containers and hydrocarbons, but would also include a support dock for inter-port transfers. Its depth of -18 meters would allow it to receive deep-draft vessels, while the terminals would have docks ranging from 1,176 to 2,000 meters in length, and surface areas ranging from 49 to 104 hectares.

The plan envisioned five highly technological container terminals , with yards and docks designed for progressive automation and comprehensive rail connectivity.

In its strategic conception, the project for the new port in Cuyutlán not only responded to a logic of expansion, but also to an operational need of the national port system: to serve as a relief valve for the current port of Manzanillo , which in recent years has operated recurrently under conditions of saturation.

The pressure on its infrastructure is not insignificant: Manzanillo closed 2025 handling 3,893,357 twenty-foot containers (TEUs), with only a slight decrease of 0.8% compared to 2024 , according to official statistics, which confirms that, even in scenarios of marginal stagnation, the levels of operation remain structurally high.

In that context, Cuyutlán was emerging as a key element for redistributing flows, alleviating bottlenecks, and reconfiguring the region’s logistical capacity. However, the Semarnat resolution makes it clear that port expansion can no longer be considered solely as a response to operational saturation: the environmental variable has become the structural factor that defines the real limits of port growth, even in the country’s main logistics hubs .

Comment and follow us on X:  @EnriqueDuRio  /  @GrupoT21

El cargo Semarnat closes the environmental file for the New Manzanillo Port and forces the project to be restarted from scratch. apareció primero en T21.

The Ministry of the Navy (Semar) is willing to launch the Nuevo Manzanillo (Cuyutlán Port) project before the end of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s term. And no proposals have been spared.

At the last extraordinary session of the Board of Directors of the National Port System Administration (Asipona) Manzanillo , held on June 20, it was reported that the port authority plans to begin the administrative process for the relocation of the Specialized Container Terminal (TEC) I , concessioned since 1995 to the American company SSA Marine Mexico , to the port of Cuyutlán.

“(…) this ASIPONA Manzanillo considers the relocation of TEC I feasible for reasons of public interest,” according to a document signed by Asipona Manzanillo presented at the Board of Directors meeting, of which T21 has a copy.

In November 2024, the federal government launched the priority project for the construction of the “Puerto Nuevo Manzanillo Cuyutlán” (New Port of Manzanillo Cuyutlán)—a total of 1,880 hectares— which plans to include up to four specialized container terminals , the current largest business line of the Port of Manzanillo. This measure seeks to address the operational problems facing the main commercial port on the Mexican Pacific due to the saturation of its current terminals.

Since the Executive’s announcement, the local and international port community has been waiting for Asipona Manzanillo, a subsidiary of Semar, to publish the bidding rules for the first two terminals considered for the project’s initial phase.

According to the Asipona Manzanillo document, the main legal basis for proposing the relocation of TEC I is referred to in what is explained in the penultimate paragraph of article 41 of the Ports Law: “The Secretariat, with a view to the public interest, may modify the uses, destinations and modes of operation provided for in the PMDP (Port Development Master Plan) with respect to the different areas of the port or group of them or terminals not yet used.”

However, to carry out the relocation, Asipona Manzanillo requires SSA Marine Mexico to make a minimum investment of 800 million dollars (mdd) applicable to preliminary studies and the construction work carried out by the American company in the development of the transition project to the port of Laguna de Cuyutlán, where it would go from the current 35 hectares to almost 90 hectares, similar to those of TEC II, operated by Contecon Manzanillo .

With this relocation, the port authority expects to alleviate Manzanillo’s ongoing congestion problems and allow it to reorganize the port with the 1,500 meters of dock and 35 hectares of storage space that SSA Marine Mexico would make available at TEC I of the Port of San Pedrito (current Port of Manzanillo).

TEC I is the main container terminal in the port of Colima. Last year alone, it handled a total of 1,724,906 TEUs , representing 43.9% of the total TEUs handled in the port, according to statistics from the General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Marine (CGPMM) , an office of the Ministry of Marine Affairs (SEMARNAT).

The document highlights that over the past 10 years, volumes recorded at the Port of Manzanillo have been steadily increasing, with no opportunity to expand the port’s infrastructure to meet the demand for services , which has posed a challenge for maintaining operational efficiency.

In the last decade, the handling of cargo increased from 25.2 million tons in 2015 to 31.4 million tons in 2024, particularly in the case of containers, which increased from 18.1 million tons of containerized cargo to 23.58 million tons, which in container boxes represents increasing from 2.54 million 20-foot containers (TEU) in 2015 to 3.9 million TEU last year.

The document, held by T21, highlights the following advantages of relocating SSA’s TEC I to the Laguna de Cuyutlán port:

1. Streamline port operations and maintain the efficiency and functionality of port operations and facilities at the Port of San Pedrito (subordinated to the Port of Manzanillo).
2. Immediate development and operation of the Laguna de Cuyutlán port, so that from its inception and as soon as possible, it will have the infrastructure of a competitive port terminal that efficiently meets the demand for port services.
3. Under the assumptions of the agreement, and the timeframes analyzed for accelerated planning and development, the new TEC I will be established and operational in the fourth quarter of 2029 in Laguna de Cuyutlán.
4. Ensure an orderly and rapid transition to the port of Laguna de Cuyutlán, maintaining the competitiveness of its operations and their costs, which impact the price and availability of imported or exported goods for the consumer or producer population.
5. Dimension and equip the new terminal with automated technology and systems to optimize operational efficiency, minimize response times, improve cargo handling capacity, ensure safety, and reduce CO2 emissions by prioritizing rail transport and reducing the margin for road transport.
6. Achieve the new TEC I to handle at least 2.5 million TEUs  by 2037.
7. Maintain the continuity of operations throughout the Manzanillo-San Pedrito-Laguna de Cuyutlán port system.
8. Maintaining the growth of the container business line , allowing for the funding of the development of inland navigation facilities, which has naturally been determined as the vocation of the Manzanillo system to go from handling 3.9 million TEUs annually to more than 10 million.
9. Generate 4,731 new jobs with the relocation of TEC I, both in its construction and with the reorganization of the southeastern San Pedrito area.
10. Inject an estimated investment of US$800 million into the port of Laguna de Cuyutlán for construction works that will benefit Asipona.
11. Seek financing mechanisms to provide infrastructure and service delivery for the hectares that TEC I will use at the new location.
12. Obtain a substantial increase in the amounts of the fixed and variable consideration from TEC I, as a result of the increase in the surface area subject to the transfer at the new location in the port of Cuyutlán and the growth in the number of containers that TEC I will move at the new location.

Likewise, the document also indicates that Asipona Manzanillo will propose to the owner of TEC I that he initiate the necessary steps, studies, and actions to carry out the relocation of its specialized terminal under the following requirements:

1. Carry out the relevant procedures in coordination with this Asipona Manzanillo and with the authorization of the competent port authority to ensure an orderly, coordinated, and expeditious transition to the port of Laguna de Cuyutlán.
2. Make a minimum committed investment of US$800 million for preliminary studies and construction work carried out by SSA Marine for the development of the transition project to the port of Laguna de Cuyutlán.
3. Maintain payments of the corresponding considerations for the areas currently operated, in accordance with the transition schedule and in adherence to the currently established amounts and their corresponding updates, maintaining the level playing field established by Asipona Manzanillo between container terminals.
4. Begin payments of the corresponding consideration for the areas to be built and operated , in accordance with the transition schedule and in adherence to the currently established amounts and their corresponding updates, maintaining the level playing field established by Asipona Manzanillo between container terminals.
5. Determine, through financial analysis, the necessary timeframe to cover infrastructure investment costs , consideration payments, operating expenses, and expected profitability.

The Asipona Manzanillo document does not clarify whether other terminals could be invited to participate in the same relocation process to the port of Cuyutlán, as Contecon Manzanillo, or whether a future bidding process will continue to be considered for the other three terminals considered in the federal government’s project.

Cuyutlán Lagoon has an area of ​​water and land four times larger than the current port area , which is expected to meet the constant growth in demand for the movement of goods, mainly imports, which on several occasions has exceeded the supply of private infrastructure and logistics services.

Comment and follow us on X:@EnriqueDuRio / @GrupoT21

El cargo Cuyutlán already has its first tenant; they propose relocating SSA to Nuevo Manzanillo. apareció primero en T21.