Logistics & Transport
From The Report: Mexico 2014
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As new constitutional reforms start to take shape, Mexico is investing heavily in its transport and logistics infrastructure. Increased economic activity has put pressure on the existent road and rail networks, prompting the current government to assign a bigger slice of the federal budget to the improvement of connections by land, sea and air. Total investment (public and private) in the transportation and communications sectors is expected to reach $99.45bn between 2013 and 2018. Between 54% and 57% of all of Mexico’s cargo depends on road transportation. In the coming years the government plans to add some 19,000 km of roads to the existing 377,000 km, alongside improvements to urban transportation, airports, ports and rail system. With its eyes set on becoming a regional transport hub, the government hopes a new public-private-partnership law, published in early 2012, will help attract more private investment into the sector.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Linking the country: Infrastructure expansion is set to support economic growth
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As new constitutional reforms start to take shape, Mexico is investing heavily in its transport and logistics infrastructure. Increased economic activity has put pressure on the current road and rail networks, and a bigger slice of the federal budget is therefore set to go towards improving connections by land, sea and air. Only months after his inauguration President Enrique Peña Nieto announced that public and private investments in the transport and communications sectors would reach MXN1.28trn ($99.45bn) between 2013 and 2018, and a total of MXN582bn ($45.22bn) will be used solely to enhance transport networks. CONTINUED BUILD: The…

Analysis

Greater competition: The economy has benefitted from the modernised rail system but new laws may change the rules for operators
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A successful privatisation of Mexico’s railway network and an increase in trade with the US has helped strengthen rail transport across Mexico. Having established itself as a strategic freight carrier for manufacturing inputs, agricultural goods and the mining industry, the sector now faces challenges from legislators aiming to open Mexico’s railways to more participants. “In Mexico, railway starts to be more competitive than road transport in distances above 500 km,” said Iker de Luisa Plazas, director-general of the Mexican Railway Association (Asociación Mexicana de Ferrocarriles, AMF). Despite the rising profile of railway freight…

Analysis

Building connections: Reorganising logistics platforms could help companies reduce costs
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Infrastructure development has helped expand Mexico’s transport system and strengthen logistics activities in the country. High among the reasons for this is the fast growth of containerisation, coupled with increased connectivity between transport modes. “Interconnection between different kinds of transport increased in 1995 with the privatisation of the national railways, because some of the companies that initially bought the concessions at the time were already in other transport businesses,” said Salvador Díaz Espejel, member of the board of directors of the Association for Logistics and Distribution Professionals. CHALLENGES:…