By Grupo T21 Editorial Staff
@GrupoT21
During the January-August period of 2025, the National Port System recorded a total of 6,297,881 containers (TEU, a measure equivalent to 20-foot containers), representing an increase of 1.4% compared to the same period in 2024, according to figures from the Secretaría de Marina (Semar).
In an analysis by T21 Business Intelligence, reviewing the monthly performance of the ports on the Mexican coasts, it was identified that last August, 850,841 TEU were handled, meaning the best record of 2025, surpassing that of last July, where 804,943 TEU had been handled.
According to data from Semar, Manzanillo, the main port in container handling, recorded its best figure of the year in the eighth month of 2025 with 346,249 TEU, surpassing that of March 2025, when 337,670 containers were reported.
The volume handled by the Port of Manzanillo last August represented an increase of 2.9% compared to the same cycle in 2024.
In the case of the Port of Lázaro Cárdenas, in the eighth month of the year it achieved a total of 235,656 TEU, reaching its second-best record of 2025, only behind last June, when 242,012 containers were handled. The performance in August for Lázaro Cárdenas was 0.5% below the same period in 2024.
On the Gulf of Mexico coast, the ports of Veracruz and Altamira are the ones that dominate the share, mobilizing 112,232 and 78,634 TEU, respectively.
The figures obtained by these ports represented a performance of -1.6% and 6.2%, respectively, compared to August 2024.
In the eighth month of the year, the volume of containers handled by Manzanillo represented a 40% share of the national total, followed by Lázaro Cárdenas with 27.7%, Veracruz 13.2%, Altamira 9.2%, and Ensenada with 4.6%.
Based on timely data from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (Inegi) on the trade balance, in August 2025 Mexico’s foreign trade reached a total of 113.380 billion dollars (billion USD), corresponding to 55.718 billion USD in exports and 57.662 billion USD in imports.
The performance compared to the same month of the previous year was a growth of 3.4% in total trade, 7.4% in exports, and -0.1% in imports.
