Maersk officials said blockades have interrupted connectivity to the Port of Lázaro Cárdenas in Mexico. A railway blockade continues to strain commercial movements from the Port of Lázaro Cárdenas, one of the country’s key seaports.
“Road blockades in Michoacán state result in lack of connectivity to major industrial centers in the west, central and north of [Mexico]. It is important that smooth traffic of goods transiting this network is maintained so as not to affect major industrial sectors and consumer centers,” Alexandra Loboda, managing director for Middle America Maersk, told FreightWaves.
Loboda said Maersk continues to talk with customers about disruptions of freight shipments from the port.
Freightwaves.com reports that, according to Mexico’s Secretariat of Communications and Transport (SCT), the Port of Lázaro Cárdenas moved 523,589 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from January through June, down 20.9% from 662,060 TEUs in the same period last year.
Border between Mexico and Texas
Despite all measures surrounding COVID-19, produce is still moving back and forth across the US/Mexican border. Dante Galeazzi from the Texas Produce Association said: "Our friends that are doing the importing, they're bringing produce across. This is really the beginning of the season. We're going to see things like tomatoes, squash, bell peppers start to increase in volume."
There is still no more important trade partner for Texas than Mexico. Also, Mexico has made many improvements in its ag business.
"The production system in Mexico has really improved dramatically over the last ten years," Galeazzi told rfdtv.com. "You've seen a lot of investment by US companies down there in Mexico to increase their production, to help to really kind of make it a full twelve month cycle without having to break any supply or reduce any supply to the American grocery stores and food service providers."