Refrigerated containers have become so scarce on the north–south North America–Latin America trade that shippers are signing guaranteed volume contracts with carriers, who in some cases are canceling spot cargo bookings because they cannot provide the equipment.
South American Ports
South American Ports
The Port of Altamira is located on Mexico’s Gulf coast, just north of the port city of Tampico at the southeastern tip of Tamaulipas state. For many shippers, Altamira offers convenient land and rail connections that link it directly to the northern and central parts of the country, including such important cities such as Monterrey, Saltillo, Reynosa, Guadalajara, and Mexico City, located about 310 miles southwest of Altamira. Overall, about half of Altamira’s cargo either originates in -- or is destined for -- the northern states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, and Coahuila. About 28 percent of its cargo either comes from -- or is destined for -- the central Mexican states of San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, Jalisco, Guanajuato, and Querétaro.
The Port of Altamira, which serves shippers in a broad range of industries, also offers maritime connections to some 125 ports around the world through various shipping lines that handle general and containerized cargo. Its railroad connections are with Ferromex (the largest railroad in Mexico), Ferrosur (which largely serves southeastern Mexico) and Kansas City Southern, whose extensive rail network includes destinations in both the United States and Mexico.
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News & Analysis
18 Jun 2021
The six busiest North American ports eked out gains in import market share during 2020 thanks to the surge in inbound container volumes at the biggest gateways.
18 Dec 2020
A weekly service will carry 53-foot domestic intermodal containers between Tampa and Brownsville, Texas, for cross-border shipments between the United States and Mexico.
24 Jun 2020
Mexican businesses and their US and Canadian partners are focused on rebuilding supply chains shattered by COVID-19 and the recession, but they shouldn’t forget USMCA.
04 May 2020
The years-long market share bleed from North America’s traditional West Coast container gateways continued in 2019, with Savannah, Houston and Prince Rupert the main beneficiaries.
24 Dec 2019
Altamira, Mexico’s fourth-largest port by cargo volume, is moving ahead with dredging work and a bridge repair project that port officials hope will attract larger cargo volumes.
24 Oct 2019
The third blockage this year of the main rail line into the Mexican Port of Lázaro Cárdenas, which is operated by Kansas City Southern of Mexico (KCSM) will likely add to shipper fears that moving cargo by rail is unreliable.
16 Oct 2019
Mexico’s fourth-largest port by volume is bucking the trend of slower cargo growth by posting solid gains in volume this year that far outpace the rise in cargo through all Mexican ports combined.
16 Sep 2019
Brazilian cotton exports to China are booming amid the US-China trade war, but stakeholders say the boost is highlighting carrier capacity shortages and sub-par infrastructure in the South American country.
09 Aug 2019
Asian gateways continued to dominate the global port market in 2018, handling more than three-quarters of the total throughput of the top 50 container ports worldwide.
08 Aug 2019
With Rio de Janeiro’s Libra Terminal now in its stable of holdings, new owner International Container Terminal Services will look to boost the facility’s volumes amid competition from two rivals.
15 Jul 2019
The new CEO of the Santos port authority has ambitious plans for South America’s largest container port, including building closer ties to China.
27 Jun 2019
The uneasy labor truce between workers at the Brazilian port of Santos and port authority Codesp will extend at least through July.
29 May 2019
Santos workers and management will keep talking in a bid to reach a new labor deal, though the union still set June 30 as the next strike deadline.
28 May 2019
More than 1,000 workers are due to walk off the job in a protest that is more broadly about the potential privatization of the Santos port authority.
24 May 2019
A $1.9 billion tender to redevelop Argentina’s Puerto Nuevo has shippers and carriers worrying about potentially higher costs.
06 May 2019
Thanks to the country’s strong manufacturing sector and reasonable economic growth, the increase in cargo handled by Mexico’s ports outpaced that of both the US and Canada in 2018.
15 Apr 2019
A bankruptcy judge has told Grupo Libra it must maintain service and continue paying staff at its T-35 and T-37 terminals in Brazil’s port of Santos through May 2020.
09 Apr 2019
Argentina’s newest container terminal gives shippers in Buenos Aires, La Plata, and Mendoza a secondary gateway.
29 Mar 2019
Grupo Libra is shuttering its port of Santos subsidiary, operator of the T-35 and T-34 terminals, due to mounting debt and the defection of Cosco and CMA CGM loops to DP World Santos.
22 Mar 2019
Union officials are hoping port operators return to the negotiating table, but with little disruption resulting from the strike, it’s unlikely employers will be open to negotiation.
13 Mar 2019
Sources tell JOC.com the strike might be the “final hurrah” for the OGMO dockworker labor pool at Santos, as terminal operators prepare for life without the freelance laborers despite the strike's apparent impact on productivity.
05 Mar 2019
As a strike by freelance longshoremen continues, terminal operators at Brazil's busiest container port fear a repeat of last August, when dockworkers invaded a CMA CGM vessel.
01 Mar 2019
Dockworkers from the OGMO freelance labor pool in Brazil’s busiest container port are protesting the elimination of regulations mandating at least 25 percent of longshore work be performed by OGMO members.
12 Feb 2019
Kansas City Southern has resumed service after protesters lifted a blockade that had shut down lines to and from Mexico's two largest ports.
04 Feb 2019
Disruptions at two of Mexico’s three biggest ports highlight the risks to rail-bound goods just as the country is looking to position itself as a regional logistics hub.
31 Jan 2019
The growth in Mexican container volumes has slowed as cargo through Pacific ports rises faster than the Gulf Coast's ports for first time in five years.
24 Jan 2019
Mexico's port of Tuxpan has found a niche offering an alternative to truck and rail on cross-border trade, as the port seeks to fulfill its potential.
08 Jan 2019
Shippers are concerned that they will pay for service consolidation.
20 Dec 2018
After a damaging truck strike, holiday trade gains are expected to be sub-par — although it is historically a time of demand growth.
10 Dec 2018
Over the weekend, drivers protested at Alemoa, in front of the main road access to the port of Santos, and closed the main highway between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro for six hours, backing up truck traffic more than two kilometers (1.24 miles).
05 Dec 2018
After Argentina's implementation of market-friendly policies, trade officials hope that the nation has bottomed, concerning trade volumes, after a decade of stagnation.
26 Nov 2018
The merits of Caribbean ports’ terminal overbuild depends on one’s stake. It's good news for container lines considering hub options in the Caribbean Basin but bad news for terminal operators seeking to entice them.
12 Nov 2018
What privatization should look like in Brazil and how it should begin is still being debated, however.
01 Nov 2018
Itajai this year has received seven roll-on, roll-off vessels and is slated to handle more through November and December.
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Commentary
Annual Review & Outlook 2013: APM Terminals Americas