Manzanillo is the only port in Mexico capable of double-stacking containers onto rail cars. Courtesy State of Colima

Manzanillo is Mexico's leading Pacific port, with shipping lines serving the Pacific Rim, and, via the Panama Canal, the eastern seaboard of the Americas. Its navigation canal is 46 feet deep, so that it can host most kinds of ships. The port covers 1,100 acres.

Since the privatization of Mexico's ports began in 1994, facilities at Manzanillo have registered substantial improvement in efficiency and the port has recorded rapid growth in recent years. Ships attended rose to 1,077 in 2000 from 700 in 1997, container movements increased to 426,717 from 256,425, and tonnage rose to 9.3 million from 7.9 million. The number of shipping lines, agencies, destinations and service companies has grown apace.

"In the past six years about 1,800 million pesos (about $1.9 million) have been invested in the port; 60 percent has been private company investment in establishing themselves at the port. The other 40 percent has been investments done by API, the port authority, and these have been mainly done in infrastructure,” says Alfonso Perez, business manager of API Manzanillo.

Manzanillo is the only port in Mexico capable of double-stacking containers onto railcars, providing efficient movement of cargo by a private railroad company, Ferromex, throughout Mexico and as far as the Texas border 1,000 miles away.

Besides containers, the port has specialized facilities for the handling of grain, vegetable and animal liquids, cement and raw materials, as well as refrigerated facilities for the handling, movement and warehousing of perishable products, multiple-use facilities for the handling and storage of general and container cargo, spacious patios for vehicle storage and a terminal designated specifically for fishing vessels.

Colima officials see the port as the cornerstone for the state's economic development. Supporting services for the port are a major target for inward investment and the port's expanding capacity is a draw for other industrial activities.

“The Port of Manzanillo represents a very important pole of economic development for the state of Colima,” says Luciano Arredondo Flores, president of the Association of Customs Agents of the Port of Manzanillo. “The port is the most important on the Mexican Pacific coast, due to its strategic geographic location and its contribution to the development of international trade of our country, especially with the countries of the Pacific Basin.”

Colima’s very mixture of economic and tourist activity contributes to a standard of living that Colima officials trust will appeal to investors from Mexico and abroad.

With nearly 90 percent of Mexico's trade being with the United States, Manzanillo's access to the western coast, as well as to Houston via rail and other eastern seaboard destinations via the Panama Canal, is seen as key to attracting investment. The potential expansion of Asian trade through the efforts of APEC and the entry of China into the World Trade Organization offer further opportunities to the port and an added attraction for investors.

The opening of the Mexican economy beginning in the mid-1980s and especially since the implementation of NAFTA starting in 1994 has meant a renaissance for the country's ports and transportation infrastructure. Road and rail connections from Manzanillo link it directly to an economic zone representing 60 percent of Mexico's gross domestic product.