(Source: Kansas City Southern news release, January 25, 2013)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Last week, another automotive manufacturer began importing finished vehicles through the Port of Lazaro Cardenas, marking the start of a new series of shipments of various vehicle models planned for 2013. KCS will move the vehicles from the Port of Lazaro Cardenas to one of the intermodal facilities in central Mexico and on to various distributors.
With rail service to and from the Port, KCS is helping shippers bypass more congested West Coast ports with a direct route to the population center of Mexico City and a shorter route to Houston. More and more shippers are attracted to Lazaro Cardenas, because of the state-of-the-art port facility, deep water, ability to handle the newest and largest generation of container vessels and extensive acreage for expansion and development. Estimated annual port capacity is 23 million metric tons of cargo, two million TEUs. The Port is served by a growing matrix of key Asian and South American ports and is the fastest growing container port in the U.S. and Mexico.
Automotive shipments and overall traffic growth at the Port of Lazaro Cardenas are among the fastest growing areas of business for KCS. Furthermore, KCS’ long-term, sustainable growth outlook is very good, particularly once the four new auto plants being built in Mexico open in early 2014.