18 Negocios photo courtesy of ministry of communications and transportation
mexico’s partner hutchison port holdings Hutchison Port Holdings Has Shipped With projects this year that include a dry port in the state of Hidalgo and the construction of ships for PEMEX (Mexico’s state-owned petroleum company), Hutchison Port Holdings strengthens its relationship with Mexico. Chinese by origin and with global operations, port developer Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) has found a good commercial enclave in Mexico. To date, it has invested 700 million usd in the country, has six business units and mobilized just in 2008 nearly 1.5 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units). HPH’s history dates back to the end of the 19th century with the establishment of the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company, which offered construction and repair services for ships for more than a century before diversifying in cargo and container management with the creation of Hong Kong International Terminals (HIT), its spearhead operation. In 1994, it created HPH to administer HIT’s growing network of ports. Today, HPH is a global leader in port investment, development and operations. Its interests are spread over 26 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and America. It operates 302 dock positions in 50 ports around the world as well as a large number of transportation services companies. In 2008 alone, HPH managed more than 67.6 million TEUs around the world. HPH in Mexico Everything started in Veracruz. HPH’s relationship with Mexico began in August 1995 when the company found in Mexico a good expansion destination. The country’s geographic position, with access to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, made it a strategic point for trade. It is the entry door to the United States and Canada and the bridge to Central America and the rest of Latin America. With the possibility it could be sound competition to other firms in the area and the backing of the Ministry of Communications and Transportation and the Federal Competition Commission (the federal agency that promotes economic efficiency and protects competition), HPH began constructing the International Terminal of Containers and Partners in the state of Veracruz. Since then, HPH has invested more than 700 million usd in the country. Today, it has six business units in strategic points: Ensenada, Manzanillo, Veracruz, Lázaro Cárdenas and soon Hidalgo. It employs more than 3,000 Mexicans in these units. The services it offers in our country include moving containers, general transportation of cargo, the repair and storage of containers and the operation of a cruise ship terminal in Ensenada. Even though the recent economic crisis has resulted in a drop in port activity around the world, HPH continues betting on Mexico, where it plans to invest more than 212 million usd this year. For example, it recently launched a 10 million usd plant in Ensenada that specializes in the handling and storage of grain. But that’s not all. In 2009, HPH has two aces up its sleeve: Veracruz and Hidalgo. The case of Veracruz In 2009, one of HPH’s priorities in Mexico will be investing nearly 7 million usd for the construction of ships at Talleres Navales del Golfo (TNG), a ship building and repair yard in Veracruz. Cargo movement by HPH in Mexico during 2008 • Veracruz International Container Partners (ICAVE): 566,451 containers • Manzanillo International Terminal (TIMSA): 254,628 containers • Lázaro Cárdenas Port Container Terminal (LCT): 524,791 containers • Ensenada International Terminal (EIT): 110,423 containers
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