Mexican port tenders fuel terminal

The Integral Port Authority of Lázaro Cárdenas is seeking a company to build a fuel terminal, port planning director Jaime Ramírez said on Monday.

With the aim of having the facility operational within two years, the port authority has set a February 2 deadline for proposal submissions. The project is expected to be awarded in early March.

The maritime facility will help distributors meet petrol and diesel demand in the state of Michoacán, the Bajío region and greater Mexico City. In an interview with Platts, Ramírez also said that Lázaro Cárdenas, situated on the Pacific coast, could become a hub for other areas, if a 1.5 million-barrel terminal were installed at the port.

The tender is part of a larger trend to boost hydrocarbons infrastructure at the country’s ports to make import and export operations quicker and more efficient.

So far, Mexico has only one privately operated fuel terminal for imports, that of Vopak at the Port of Veracruz. IEnova is currently constructing a second terminal at that port, slated to come on line in the second half of the year.