Borderlands is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: Major expansion project announced for Port of Progreso; Kawasaki Motors inaugurates $200M new plant in Mexico; Logistics provider Veho opens expands into Texas; and Videndum expands into Southwest with Phoenix logistics location.
Major expansion project announced for Port of Progreso
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum recently announced a project to expand the Port of Progreso in the country’s southeastern state of Yucatan by the end of the year.
The port is located along a busy trade route on the Gulf of Mexico and is known for being a cruise ship harbor and is one of the only offshore deep water cargo ports in the country. It has a 4.11 mile-long pier and a 4.68 mile-long shipping channel, which is currently 492 feet wide and 36 feet deep.
“We are finally going to make it a reality for the Port of Progreso to be a deep sea port,” Sheinbaum said during a speech on Oct. 20. “We started this year. It will take three years of work, because the ground in this area is very hard and special machines are required to make it a deep-sea port, but we are going to start. It is a joint project between the state government [of Yucatan] and the Mexican government.”
The port connects Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula to key markets in the United States, Europe, as well as Central and South America.
The expansion is aimed at allowing the 200-acre port to accommodate larger ships carrying more cargo, officials said. The project includes increasing the port’s channel to a width of more than 500 feet and a depth of 47 feet deep.
“It is one of the most important points of tourist and commercial connectivity for the country, with the largest remote terminal in the world,” Raymundo Pedro Morales Angeles, Mexico’s Secretary of the Navy, said in a news release.
“The environmental impact studies and soil mechanics studies began today, and in the next few days you will see dredgers from the Navy,” Morales Angeles said.
The port currently contains a container terminal with two ship-to-shore cranes, a solid grain terminal, tank terminal, two public berths for multi-purpose shipments, a cruise terminal and bunkering and stevedoring infrastructure.
Exports from the Port of Progreso include textiles, jewelry, electronic products, poultry and pork products, fruits and vegetables, seafood and honey.
APM Terminals, a subsidiary of shipping giant Maersk, is the operator of the Port of Progreso. The company said they see significant opportunities for new business and market growth at the port.
In the first six months of 2024, APM Terminals Progreso handled 54,161 twenty-foot equivalent units and received 151 vessels — averaging 22 vessels per month.
“As the Mexican President highlighted, the expansion of the deep-water port in Progreso is currently underway,” Beatriz Yera, managing director of APM Terminals Mexico, told FreightWaves in an email. “This ambitious project is set to significantly boost the region’s economic development and attract foreign investment, thereby strengthening the port’s commercial ties.”
Yera said APM Terminals’ facilities at the Port of Progreso are equipped with state-of-the-art technology that enables them to anticipate operational needs, reduce waiting times, and enhance precision in loading and unloading processes.
“APM Terminals Mexico is committed to achieving operational efficiency and promoting the sustainable growth of the Port of Progreso,” Yera said. “We are dedicated to meeting the increasing demands and emerging opportunities in Mexican trade by providing top-notch services to our current and future customers.”
Kawasaki Motors inaugurates $200M plant in Mexico
Japan-based Kawasaki Motors opened a factory in the municipality of Salinas Victoria, Mexico, where the company will produce all-terrain and personal watercraft vehicles.
The plant has 1,000 employees and could create as many as 2,500 positions by 2026. The facility will have an annual production capacity of about 30,000 vehicles for the North American market, according to a news release.
The $200 million plant is Kawasaki’s largest outside of Japan, according to media reports. Salinas Victoria is located just outside of the city of Monterrey, about 150 miles from Laredo, Texas.
Kawasaki Motors is a division of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, a publicly traded multinational manufacturer of motorcycles, engines, heavy equipment, aerospace and defense equipment and ships.
Logistics provider Veho expands into Texas
Package delivery platform Veho has moved to Austin, Texas, as part of its plan to establish what it describes as a “flagship” office in the city.
The company’s CEO, Itamar Zur, has relocated to Austin and the company intends to hire more employees in the coming months.
“As Veho accelerates building the technology that’s transforming the logistics industry, Austin’s talent, quality of life, and central location are the perfect choice for a new flagship office as we expand across America,” Zur said in a news release.
Veho’s first flagship office was opened in New York. The company’s aims to help company’s deliver packages to customers faster, while enabling consumers to control when, where and how their packages are delivered.
Veho, founded in 2016, has 800 employees and nearly 70,000 independent driver-partners providing delivery services across 44 markets.
Videndum expands into Phoenix logistics location
Videndum Media Distribution US Inc. recently opened a warehouse and distribution operation in Phoenix.
The 47,000 square-foot facility aims to enhance the company’s service capabilities to the photo and film equipment industry along the West Coast.
The Phoenix distribution center will enable Videndum to provide faster and more efficient service to clients, as well as reduce delivery times, according to a news release.
“This facility represents our dedication to improving our supply chain and enhancing our customer support,” Richard Reiser, Videndum’s U.S. managing director, said in a statement.
London-based Videndum Media Solutions is a manufacturer of hardware and software for the film and video industry.