ASiAn invASion wElcomEd - ProMéxico

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