A New Port on the Horizon
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A seaport the size of Long Beach and Los Angeles on the West Coast? Our Southern California ports have become increasingly exposed and strained due to environmental initiatives and urban development, which Mexico is aiming to both relieve and rival as it plans the construction of its new port.
Considered to be the country’s largest infrastructure project in history, Mexican government officials including President Felipe Calderon intend to snare Asian cargo traffic and freight it off to the U.S. The new port would be located in Punto Colonet, which is located roughly 150 miles south Tijuana.
The Los Angeles Times reported that, “Punta Colonet is expected to have a capacity of 2 million shipping containers annually when it opens in 2014, Mexico’s transportation secretariat told The Times But officials envision it ultimately handling five times that amount. Last year, the ports of L.A. and Long Beach handled 15.7 million containers combined.” (www.latimes.com)
A tiny village, Punto Colonet is currently home to about 2,500 residents who will be visited by President Calderon in coming days. Calderon, other government officials, and businessmen and women see potential in the location which is not a high traffic area and relatively close to Southern California. While 30 million shipping containers traversed the Pacific ocean last year to West Coast ports (15.7 million to Long Beach and Los Angeles ports combined), Calderon expects Punto Colonet to handle about 2 million containers its first year in action.
Money to fund the colossal project will be privately funded. And while overall economic tribulations have hit the logistics industry, it is expected to rebound in the next year or two. Should Calderon’s vision go as planned the port would be open for business in 2014.
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