Mexico to open bidding for Punta Colonet port
Mexican President Felipe Calderon opened bidding Thursday on the largest maritime development in the nation's history, a massive Pacific port complex at Punta Colonet that is intended to compete directly with Southern California ports.
The first phase of the Colonet project, to be located in an undeveloped Baja California bay 150 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border, is projected to cost $5 billion and handle up to 2 million TEUs per year when completed in 2012. Additional phases could ultimately see the complex grow to the size of either Long Beach or Los Angeles, handling more than 7 million TEUs annually.
Designed specifically to lure away Asian cargo now heading through the Southern California ports to the U.S. East Coast via overland rail, the Punta Colonet port complex is envisioned as a nearly all-intermodal operation, with containers being transported via rail to the American mainline rails near the intersection of the California, Arizona and Mexican borders.
In opening the bids, Calderon predicted that the Colonet port complex, when completed, would become the most important in Mexico — five times larger than the Port of Veracruz and 10 times larger than the Port of Manzanillo. 'The Colonet port has the potential to become one of the key ports in the international shipping world,' he said.
Calderon specifically pointed to Colonet rivaling the Southern California ports, the two busiest container ports in the Western Hemisphere. 'The physical space of Colonet is four times greater than the Port of Los Angeles and represents more than five times the space of the Port of Long Beach, in California,' he said.
Colonet's location will allow the port to offer 'greater dynamism and efficiency' for containers moving from Asia through the U.S. West Coast ports to Atlantic Coast markets, he said.
'Colonet is going to tie together the productive chains of Asia and North America,' Calderon said. 'We are going to connect Mexico with the world and continue opening the door of solid growth for our economy — one that allows us to not only compete, but to win in the global economy in which we live.'
The contracts up for bid by Calderon include development of terminals at Punta Colonet as well as the rail component. The developer is also expected to operate the developed facility under a 45-year concession agreement. Mexico is expected to award the bids next year.
The Mexican government, which in January committed slightly more than $1 billion to the project, plans to obtain the rest of the financing through a public/private partnership with the eventual facility operator.
Several large consortia have indicated they would bid on the project, including:
' A partnership between Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu and the New Jersey-based terminal operator Ports America Group.
' Mexican construction firm Ideal.
' U.S. marine terminal operator SSA Marine.
' A consortium formed by former Ensenada municipality president and Baja California Gov. Ernesto Ruffo.
Ruffo's group, Puerto Colonet Infrastructure, has secured what none of the other potential bidders have been able to: the support of the Punta Colonet locals and titular landowners.
The largely undeveloped future location of the Colonet port is surrounded by farmland tracts owned by established local families. Called ejidors, these communally owned farm tracts were deeded to the local families by the Mexican government in the late 1940s and are passed down from family member to family member.
In addition to the prime coastal real estate at the projected site of the port, a large dry riverbed — in some areas more than a half-mile wide and running from its outlet at the Colonet Bay through a gorge in the Sierra Ju'rez Mountains 40 miles away — is also ejidor land.
While Hong Kong-based port operator, Hutchison Port Holdings originally purchased the riverbed outlet on the bay from a small group of ejidors, the firm's Colonet property is now surrounded by property either owned by Ruffo's PCI or ejidors that are willing to sell to him.
As head of PCI, Ruffo has also developed a very detailed plan that takes full advantage of his property commitments, land he owns and the local terrain.
Ruffo's and PCI's long-range plan for the port envisions a megaport that would rival any in the world, with 18 berths that would each accommodate the largest of container vessels. Each berth, according to Ruffo, would be able to handle 850,000 TEUs annually. The port would ship about 60 percent of the containers inland via rail, handle about 30 percent as transshipments, and send the remaining 10 percent out on trucks.
Regardless of who wins the contracts, any potential bidder will have to negotiate with U.S. rail giants Union Pacific or BNSF, which control the mainline tracks running through the U.S. Southwest. UP had originally been a potential bidder, but pulled out of a proposed partnership with Hutchison last May. On breaking the Hutchison partnership, UP indicated it was still open to bidding with another partner on the Colonet project.
U.S. West Coast ports handle more than 60 percent of the Asia-to-Atlantic Coast cargo, with the all-water route through the Panama Canal capturing another 38 percent.
Last year, the Canadian port of Prince Rupert also began operations, offering a direct rail connection for cargo from the Canadian Pacific Coast to Chicago in about 100 hours.
In addition, the Panama Canal, set to open a new set of larger locks in 2014, expects to capture up to half of the Asia-to-Atlantic Coast traffic by 2025.
If the canal predictions hold true, this sets the stage for Punta Colonet, the U.S. West Coast ports and the Canadian ports of Prince Rupert and Vancouver to vie for the remainder. ' Keith Higginbotham
