MTM Logix eyes growing US-Latin America trade flows

With more companies trying to relocate supply chains from Asia closer to their end markets in the Americas, MTM L ogi x sees unique opportunities for Mexico, as well as several Central American countries, to increase their cross-border trade.

“When it comes to supply chains, it breaks down to the certainty,” MTM Logix CEO Mario Veraldo told FreightWaves. “If your supply chains are certain, you’re not going to change, right? So, the more uncertain things become, the more willingness there will be for you to try something new.”

MTM Logix is an international freight forwarder based in Mexico City. Veraldo, the former head of Maersk Mexico and former commercial director for Maersk East Coast South America, co-founded MTM Logix in 2020 with COO Andrea Velasquez and CFO Gerardo Velázquez.

Veraldo said he has seen an explosive growth in companies nearshoring their operations to Mexico to be closer to markets in the U.S., as well as Brazil.

Nearshoring is the relocation of production and manufacturing operations from one country to another that is closer to the final consumer.

“We often think of the U.S. as the big attractor for nearshoring, but the demand for Latin American countries’ products has skyrocketed across the Americas,” Veraldo said. “Also the demand for Brazilian products in other Latin American countries is skyrocketing. So the same trend that we see from Mexico to different parts of Latin America and the U.S., we are now seeing in Brazil that nearshoring is really happening.”

MTM Logix recently received an investment from VCM Global Asset Management, a Nassau, Bahamas-based private equity and alternative investments firm operating on the island as well as in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

VCM did not disclose the amount of the investment but said it was partnering with MTM Logix because of the firm’s “unique approach to supply chain management and freight brokerage solutions,” according to Santiago Tello, VCM’s managing director.

Veraldo said the funding will be used to hire more staff and open offices in Texas and Florida as well as possible locations in New Jersey and Philadelphia. MTM Logix currently has about 21 employees, as well as offices in Guatemala and Brazil.

Veraldo said one of the first customers in 2020 was a furniture manufacturer with operations in China that was looking to cut transportation costs.

“He called us and said, ‘Hey, can you get me some furniture from Mexico? My whole supply chain is China but I cannot afford $20,000 shipping rates,’” Veraldo said. “‘Can you find someone in Mexico who will do this for me?’”

Veraldo said MTM was able to help that client find suppliers in Mexico.

“If something does happen in China, the reaction time in Mexico is much faster, you can actually be in whichever point in the U.S. in up to six days [from Mexico],” Veraldo said. “With China, you have at least 112 days of transit time. It’s about really making things more efficient, shaving time from those inventory days.”

MTM Logix provides logistics solutions through automation, visibility and supplier collaboration. The company said its approach to freight forwarding uses “control towers,” a way to help customers structure and synchronize supply chains.

Veraldo said if the U.S., Mexico and other countries across the Americas want to capitalize on nearshoring and reshoring trends, they must invest in education, infrastructure and data.

“The countries involved in this, they need to invest in education, because regardless of how you slice it, you need to have a group of people that know how to operate in logistics,” Veraldo said. “The second important investment is infrastructure. You’re not going to have nearshoring unless you have the infrastructure in place.”

Veraldo said having the right data will always be key for shippers in the decision-making process.

“Today, the decision-making process for many is extremely manual. A lot of companies are operating their supply chains with a piece of paper and Excel spreadsheets,” Veraldo said. “You need to have a way to generate the data for those different processes with as little friction as possible.”