During 2021, the port cargo of the ports of Mexico showed a slowdown due to the effects of the pandemic, in line with the performance of the economy, growing by only 7,3%, totaling 286.114.290 tons. The progress is contrasted against 2020, when the port movement was located at 266.718.822, including the fall of 2019, when the ports registered double-digit growth, reported Info-Transportation.

Despite the world container crisis, in Mexico there was a very notable increase of 21,6%, due to the support of retail trade chains for goods, which allowed it to reach 7.855.715 TEUs, both in the Pacific and in the Gulf, against the 6.461.476 units during 2020.

On the other hand, automotive ro-ro cargo mainly made up of light vehicles increased up to 8,1% in both imports and exports, standing at 1.631.815 units until December 2021, versus 2020 when it added 1.509.982 cars.

According to official information from the ports division of the Secretary of the Navy (Semar), loose general cargo also showed an advance of 22,5%, going from 24.257.031 tons from January to December 2020 to 29.709.578. in the same period of 2021.

With this same growth rate, containerized loose cargo advanced, increasing by 24,3% reaching 58.885.115 tons until the twelfth month of 2021, in contrast to 47.389.035 in 2020.

In fact, mineral bulk showed a favorable trend with a performance of 7,7% to total 64.690.914 tons in 2021, versus 60.052.591 in 2020.

Meanwhile, agricultural bulk registered a decrease of 3,3%, standing at 16.283.983 tons, compared to a sustained figure of 16.848.030 in 2020.

Another affected segment is oil and its derivatives, which showed a significant contraction of up to 2,2%, a setback of more than 2 million tons, standing at 103.445.830, versus the 105.809.700 reported in 2020.

At the same time, the Other Fluids segment, where various products other than hydrocarbons are located, registered an increase of 6,0%, reaching 13.098.870 tons last year against 12.362.435 in 2021.

arrivals

Despite the improvement in cargo movement, ship calls continued to decline by up to 2,2% less, totaling 20.787 ships in the period, a clear contraction compared to 21.566 ships in 2020.

The drop in the arrival of ships also contributed to a significant decrease in cruise calls that continued to be affected, due to a slow recovery, as a result of the fourth wave of the pandemic, which maintained a drop of 32,7% to add 1.784 ships in 2021 compared to 2.651 in 2020.