On Saturday night, and after 18 days of blockade, the railway tracks in the community of Puente Colorado, located in Chapulco, Puebla, were released after reaching an agreement with Ferrosur .

According to Puebla’s Secretary of the Interior, Javier Aquino Limón, after several roundtable discussions, an agreement was reached between the railway company and the residents of the Puente Colorado auxiliary council.

“Ferrosur is committed to providing a water treatment plant for the benefit of the population. In addition, it will continue to supply 10 water tankers a day and 480 jugs a week for human consumption, while the water treatment plant is being installed,” it said through its networks.

Likewise, the Confederation of Industrial Chambers (Concamin) and the Mexican Association of Railways (AMF) said that this action will ensure continuity of industrial and commercial activities that critically depend on rail transport to ensure the timely supply of inputs and products at national and international levels.

They thanked the federal government for its willingness to open channels of dialogue and seek immediate solutions to these types of situations, “reaffirming its commitment to the country’s economic development and strengthening of the industry.”

They assured that the reopening of this route is a support from the government to maintain the stability of the supply chains , avoid major impacts and continue to promote the growth of the Mexican economy.

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The railway blockade in the community of Puente Colorada, located in Chapulco, Puebla, which is now 18 days old, has left a loss of more than 1.5 billion pesos, causing the affected industries to look for alternatives such as road transport to move their products, despite the extra costs. However, if it continues, it would cause certain companies to stop their production.

The Association of Industrialists of Southern Veracruz (AIEVAC) confirmed losses of more than 160 million pesos , due to the fact that more than 60 thousand tons have been seized.

“We are very concerned about the situation at the railway crossing, which is definitely causing havoc in the production and transportation of chemicals and petrochemicals that are distributed to the center, Bajío and the north, where Veracruz industrialists supply raw materials for the manufacturing sector,” Sergio Plata, president of the organization, told T21.

He explained that there are some products that can be moved by road transport , however, there are additional costs since instead of moving a hopper with a capacity of 90 tons, three tractor-trailers are used.

“But there are products that cannot be transported by this route; they must be transported by rail for safety reasons, and if we do not have the rail crossing, there are plants that are days away from having to stop their operations, which means greater economic losses for the companies,” he said.

However, he commented that there are companies that are already using auto transport , but with additional costs and reducing the competitiveness of the area, as well as the promotion of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT).

“We are looking to develop a project like the Interoceanic Corridor here in the south of Veracruz, where one of the logistics methods is rail transport, because it will reduce competitiveness and make investors nervous about making the investments we are looking for them to make. We as industrialists are promoting the corridor, but with these scenarios it is difficult for them to take this region into consideration,” he said.

Meanwhile, Felipe de Javier Peña Dueñas, president of the National Council for the Supply of Grains and Oilseeds (Conago), said that there are more than 100 thousand tons of grain pending mobilization , despite the fact that products have been transported through road transport and other means.

“Ships have continued to arrive, we have two ships anchored that must have around 70 thousand tons that are also waiting to be docked in order to be able to connect, so this leads to a very significant impact. We do have a very big difficulty in terms of supply and it is not just a matter of cost overruns,” he said.

He mentioned that according to Concamin , between 85 and 86 million pesos are lost per day , so the loss reaches more than 1,500 million pesos , in addition to the extra costs and the logistical difficulty to supply human and animal consumption.

He explained that logistical availability “is not something you have on the corner” to replace it, this, because the problem of changing a hopper for a truck, “is no longer a matter of extra costs but rather the exhaustion of possibilities.”

He also mentioned that the nearest ports do not have rail connectivity , so the option is road transport, but if the blockade continues they will have to look for other logistical options.

Sergio Plata mentioned that they are aware that the government of Puebla has already taken the corresponding actions in certain requests from the community . However, “there are others that definitely do not fall within the scope, nor within the capacity to be provided by the government and, in a certain way, they do not have a reason for being.”

For this reason , he reiterated the need to enforce the rule of law , while calling on the residents of Puente Colorada to take this claim to a negotiating table with the federal and state governments to allow the free movement of goods.

“Otherwise, we will have to stop production in some petrochemical plants whose products cannot be transported by any means other than rail, and that would have an even greater impact on the national economy, since this industry contributes 7% to the GDP of the state of Veracruz, and 1.2% to the national GDP, so it will undoubtedly have a serious impact,” he said.

The National Chamber of Cement (Canacem) indicated to this media that the estimated impact on the sector is approximately five thousand tons per day.

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PUERTO VALLARTA, JAL.- Losses due to the current railway blockade on the Mexico-Veracruz route are estimated at 70 million pesos per day , said Alejandro Malagón, president of the Confederation of Industrial Chambers (Concamin) on Thursday , who confirmed that a call has been made to the Ministry of the Interior (Segob) to clear the road.

“We have to stop this now (…) it is affecting us a lot,” he said in an interview with the media after his participation in the XXVIII Annual Congress of Shipping Agents, organized by the National Association of Shipping Agents (Amanac) .

The leader of the industrialists even indicated that there is a risk of not having the chemical products to purify the water for Mexico City , since a large part of the volume of this merchandise is transported by train.

The blockade affects rail traffic of  general containerized cargo arriving at the port of Veracruz, given the peak year-end inventory season.

Since September 24, residents of the Puente Colorado Chapulco community (128 km from the city of Puebla and 170 km from the port of Veracruz) have blocked the train track , demanding attention to demands related to access to water.

The Mexican Railway Association (AMF) has also called on the authorities to unblock the train’s passage, but has yet to receive a response from the Mexican government.

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The  Confederation of Industrial Chambers (Concamin) made an urgent call to the authorities to reestablish rail traffic on the Veracruz-Mexico City route, which has been  blocked since September 24, affecting the transport of various products.

“We ask the authorities for support in reestablishing the rule of law as a basic mechanism for the efficient operation of various sectors of the logistics chain, which are currently severely impacted after eight days of service interruption,” he said in a statement.

He also requested support to ensure that conditions exist for the removal of railway equipment that is being held by residents and for trains to be moved through the area.

For his part, José Luis Valencia, director of the Mexican Business Council for Foreign Trade, Investment and Technology (Comce) Veracruz , agreed that the corresponding authorities must facilitate negotiations and reach an agreement with the residents.

“Above all, because of the economic impact that it effectively has on the movement of merchandise to and from the port of Veracruz, considering that the main manufacturing industrial centers of Puebla, Mexico City, and the State of Mexico are suffering this impact of not being able to move merchandise by this route and requiring to move it by truck,” he told T21.

He mentioned that by using road transport to transport their products, costs increase by up to 60% compared to rail freight.

It should be remembered that since September 24, residents of the Puente Colorado Chapulco community (128 km from the city of Puebla and 170 km from the Port of Veracruz) have blocked the train track, requesting attention to demands related to access to water.

Concamin reiterated that interrupting service on this section of the railway network that serves the Port of Veracruz and Mexico City affects the energy sector, the operation of the Salamanca and Tula refineries (shortage of fuel oil and import of refined products); the steel industry by preventing the supply of raw materials for the operation of the plants, as well as the plastics, automotive, auto parts and cement industries, among others.

The impact on the agricultural sector is worrying because this blockade prevents the daily evacuation of 20 thousand tons of grain destined for the center of the country, which will increase the cost of animal feed. Likewise, the shortage of chlorine is critical for Mexico City.

He also mentioned that rail traffic of general containerized cargo arriving at the port of Veracruz is affected, given the high season for year-end inventories.

With information from Enrique Duarte.

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