Recently, as the Port of Manzanillo has been affected by demonstrations, the main road leading to the port has been congested, with a length of road congestion of several kilometers.
The demonstration was due to truck drivers protesting that the waiting time at the port was too long, from 30 minutes to 5 hours, and there was no food during the queue, and they could not go to the toilet. At the same time, the truck drivers had discussed with the customs of Manzanillo for a long time about such issues. But it has not been resolved, thus causing this strike.
Affected by port congestion, port operations were temporarily stagnated, resulting in increasing waiting times and the number of arriving ships. In the past 19 hours, 24 ships have arrived at the port. Currently, there are 27 ships operating in the port, with another 62 scheduled to call in Manzanillo.
According to customs data, in 2022, the Port of Manzanillo will handle 3,473,852 20-foot containers (TEUs), an increase of 3.0% over the same period last year, of which 1,753,626 TEUs are imported containers. Between January and April this year, the port saw imports of 458,830 TEUs (3.35% more than the same period in 2022).
Due to the increase in trade volume in recent years, the port of Manzanillo has been saturated. In the past year, the port and the local government have been planning new programs to improve operational efficiency.
According to GRUPO T21 report, there are two main factors for the port congestion. On the one hand, the National Port System Authority’s decision last year to lease a 74-hectare site near the town of Jalipa for use as a motor transport supervision yard has resulted in a reduction in the area of the site where transport vehicles are parked.
On the other hand, in TIMSA, which operates the port, one of the four terminals dedicated to container loading and unloading was out of order, and this week three “vessels” arrived without scheduling, leading to prolonged loading and unloading times. Although the port itself is already addressing this issue by increasing operational levels.
The ongoing congestion at the port of Manzanillo has also caused delays in appointments, with both “checkouts” and container deliveries affected.
Although the Manzanillo terminals have issued announcements stating that truck entry is being metered in order to address congestion and that they have expedited cargo clearance by extending container appointment times while increasing terminal operating times (average added 60 hours).
It is reported that the road bottleneck problem of the port has existed for a long time, and there is only one main line leading to the container terminal. If there is a slight incident, road congestion will become commonplace, and the continuity of cargo circulation cannot be guaranteed.
In order to improve the road situation, the local government and the country have taken action to build a second channel in the northern part of the port. The project started on February 15 and is expected to be completed in March 2024.
The project constructs a 2.5 km long four-lane road with a hydraulic concrete load-bearing surface. Authorities have calculated that at least 40 percent of the 4,000 vehicles that enter the port on an average day travel on the road.
Finally, I would like to remind the shippers who have recently shipped goods to Manzanillo, Mexico, that there may be delays at that time. They should communicate with the freight forwarding company in time to avoid losses caused by delays. At the same time, we will continue to follow up.
Post time: May-30-2023
