Imports by rail from Mexico rise 13.2% from January to May
Imports by rail from Mexico totaled 22,293,000 tons from January to May, a 13.2% increase year-on-year, according to data from the Rail Transport Regulatory Agency (ARTF).
Conversely, imports by rail from Mexico totaled 7 million 053,000 tons during the same period, a drop of 7.5% at the annual rate.
Currently, Mexico operates 74 intermodal terminals, including 30 interior multimodal terminals, 18 rail terminals, 18 port terminals, and eight private automotive terminals.
The Administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador intends to further develop the railway industry in Mexico for the transportation of cargo and passengers.
The Mexican rail freight system is made up of eight concession companies: Kansas City Southern de México, Ferromex, Ferrosur, Ferrovalle, Coahuila-Durango, Chiapas Mayab Railway, Ferrocarril del Istmo and Ferrocarril Tijuana-Tecate.
Imports by rail
Mexico exported products worth 23.385 million dollars in April, a drop of 40.9% year-on-year, the highest in current records released online by Banco de México, since 1993.
In contrast, Mexican merchandise imports totaled 26,472 million, a decline of 30.5%, its steepest decline since August 2009, when the international financial crisis occurred. The lowest contraction occurred in April of that same year, at 38.8 percent.
Throughout 2019, imports by rail from Mexico reached 66 million 019,000 tons, while exports were 22 million 270,000 tons.
T-MEC at startup
For the President of the Mexican Association of Railways (AMF), José Zozaya, the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC) constitutes «a message of confidence and stability for Mexico», which will encourage national railway companies to respond to the needs of an increasing volume of merchandise in the North American market.
The Mexican railway sector has positioned itself as a benchmark of global success, thanks to an intensive investment of more than $ 11,158 million dollars, which has enabled the renovation of more than 80% of the tracks that make up the network and the sharing of North American standards for the efficiency of Class 1 railroads, such as security, 14,000-ton load capacity and speeds of up to 100 km / hour.
In the last 20 years there has been a sustained growth in the railway load of foreign trade. In 2019, 88.3 million tons of cargo were mobilized.
«In 2020 the railway industry has been an essential activity in the framework of the Covid-19 pandemic and it is expected that its contribution will be decisive for the reactivation of logistics chains and the economic growth of the region,» according to a statement from the AMF.
