The Medium Ports of Mexico

The international ports and harbors of Mexico have been a major driving force in the nation's economic growth. The Mexican government earns a good deal of revenue through shipping. Originally, there were only five international ports in Mexico which kept imports and exports down to a minimum. Thanks to NAFTA, a surge of imports and exports caused the shipping industry to explode. Due to the increasing influx of products, Mexico established a host of new port to compensate for all the new traffic. This lead to the birth and development of medium-sized seaports in the country which are as follows:

1. Puerto de Altamira – This port is on the north-central shore of the Gulf of Mexico and is the closest deep water port to the United States. This puts the port in a critical position to implement the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Due to privatization, the port has seen growth to around 1,363 commercial cargo ship calls, which carried over 13.3 million tons of cargo in 2008. The port facilities are capable of carrying over 100 tons of weight, including cranes and lifts.

2. Puerto de Coatzacoalcos – This port lies in the mouth of the Coatzacoalcos River. This port is used mostly for exporting the products of petroleum, forestry, agriculture and manufacturing. In this port you will find medical supplies, tugboats and cranes and lifts capable of carrying more than 100 tons of weight.

3. Puerto de Dos Bocas – This port handles as much as 85% of Mexico's oil production and also imports the equipment and machinery need for oil exploration and development. Located about five kilometers north of the town of Paraiso in the State of Tabasco, Mexico, Puerto de Dos Bocas imports products, equipment, and machinery to support local agriculturalproduction and exports bananas, mango, pineapple, Persian lemon, papaya, orange, coffee, sugar cane, cocoa, and peppers as well as products based on livestock.

4. Puerto de Ensenada – This port can be found on the shores of the Todos Santos Bay near the Pacific Ocean. It is a regular port of call for cruise ships from all over the continent. This muti-purpose port handles many roles - industrial, commercial, recreational and tourist activities. The port handles many activities from bulk minerals, cargo handling and even shipyard operations. Commercial activities include commercial fishing, marinas, cruises, and sports fishing.

5. Puerto de Lazaro Cardenas –This is the only port in Mexico than can handle the largest of vessels carrying up to 165 tons and all kinds of cargo thanks to an access channel 18 meters deep. Here you will find medical supplies, limited ability to repair ships, tug and pilot boats. Unfortunately the cranes can only lift up to 24 tons.
6. Puerto de Topolobampo – This port specializes in ferry which transports passengers moving to and from La Paz in Baja California Sur. Aside from ferrying, the port also handled approximately 452.6 thousand tons of exports and 412.9 thousand tons of imports.

7. Puerto de Tuxpan - This port is an important Mexican hub for industry, commercial products and transportation due to the large amounts of exports in handles in petroleum oils, corn, fish, bananas and livestock.

Mexico's medium ports are very important to the government, even though they process less than 20% of Mexico's shipments. Medium sized ports actually show more growth than the larger ones.