The Port of Lázaro Cárdenas () is the largest

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

and one of the largest

s in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

basin, with an annual traffic capacity of around 25 million tonnes of

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...

and 2,200,000 TEU. In November 2003, the

Mexican Navy The Mexican Navy is one of the two independent armed forces of Mexico. The actual naval forces are called the ''Armada de México''. The ''Secretaría de Marina'' (''SEMAR'') (English: Naval Secretariat) includes both the ''Armada'' itself and ...

seized the port from criminal gangs.

Description

Lázaro Cárdenas is home to a deep-water

that handles

container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

dry bulk Bulk cargo is commodity cargo that is transported unpackaged in large quantities. Description Bulk cargo refers to material in either liquid or granular, particulate form, as a mass of relatively small solids, such as petroleum/ crude oi ...

, and liquid cargo. The port currently has one container terminal, which handled 1.24 million TEU in 2012, and has a total capacity of 2.2 million TEU annually. APMT has plans to build an additional container terminal that would bring the port's capacity to 3.4 million TEU in 2015 and 6.5 million TEU in 2020. Cargo moves to and from the port by road and rail equally, with rail service provided exclusively by

Kansas City Southern de México Kansas City Southern de México (KCSM), formerly Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM), is a company dedicated to freight transportation using rail in the northeastern part of Mexico. KCSM is fully owned and operated by Kansas City Southern ...

. The port is expected to become a major container facility due to congestion at the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

ports of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

and its relative proximity to major cities such as

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

, and

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. In preparation for the port's increased capacity, railway and highway infrastructure running north–south through the center of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

has been upgraded in recent years to handle the anticipated increase in volume of goods bound for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

using this transportation corridor. If a proposed government-backed

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

port is built at

Punta Colonet, Baja California Punta Colonet (Chuwílo Ksaay (''dry arroyo'') in the Kiliwa language) is a town located in Ensenada Municipality, Baja California, Mexico. Located south of the city of Ensenada, the community is located in an agriculturally productive region o ...

, goods flowing to U.S. states like

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

could bypass the congested

region with closer access to those markets, providing increased competition with Lázaro Cárdenas. Lázaro Cárdenas is the terminus of the Salamanca-Lazaro Cardenas gas pipeline.

Statistics

In 2012, the Port of Lázaro Cárdenas handled 30,671,996 tonnes of

and 1,242,777 TEU's, making the busiest

port in

and one of the largest

ports in the country. :''* figures in tonnes''

Terminals

The port of Lázaro Cárdenas has both public and private terminals specialised in: ''Public terminals'' *

Grain terminal A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposi ...

: *

Multi use terminals Multi is a shortened form of "multiple". It may refer to: * Alternate character, in online gaming * Multi two diamonds, a contract bridge convention * Multirhyme, a synonym for feminine rhyme used in hip hop music * Multi (''To Heart''), a charac ...

: *

Container terminal A container port or container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example train ...

s: ''Private terminals'' * Mineral terminal: * Fluid terminal: * Coal terminal: * Fertilizer terminal:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Port of Lazaro Cardenas Lazaro Cardenas, Port of Coal terminals Buildings and structures in Michoacán