MONTERREY, Mexico — Mexican railroad operator Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM) said on Monday it expects 16 percent growth in revenues this year, despite Mexico’s economic slowdown, according to a wire service report.
TFM Executive Director Jorge Licon said the company expects to grow in 2002 by taking market share from the trucking industry. TFM is a subsidiary of shipping company Transportacion Maritima Mexicana and Kansas City Southern Industries, a U.S. railroad holding company.
Licon said there is room for growth because in United States, 34 to 35 percent of all cargo is shipped by railroad, while in Mexico the percentage lags at 12 percent.
Licon added that revenue rose 6 percent in 2001 from 2000 to $680 million, an amount that fell short of the company’s 15 percent growth target because of the recession in both the United States and Mexico.
TFM’s expectations for revenue growth will also be supported by new infrastructure, part of the company’s planned $100 million investment in 2002.
Mexico’s economy is closely linked to that of the United States, which buys 85 percent of Mexico’s exports.
TFM won a concession from the Mexican government in 1997 to operate railroad lines in the northeast. Its lines connect with the U.S. railroad network at the Mexican border cities of Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros.