As traffic builds at Mexican ports, customs clearance is in chaos

Increasing traffic has placed significant pressure on Mexico’s seaport capacity, resulting in longer waiting times for importers, with customs clearance as a major hurdle. Mexico’s logistics infrastructure is struggling to keep up with the rise in global cargo movement. Industry leaders and advocacy groups have called for comprehensive efforts to ease this strain, emphasizing the need for infrastructure investments spanning ports, highways, and rail networks.

Unsurprisingly, the nation’s primary ocean gateways have emerged as key congestion points. According to official data, overall container traffic rose by 14.8% in the first eight months of this year compared to the same period in 2023. Container volumes at Lazaro Cardenas increased by 28.7% from January to September.

This surge has driven average import container dwell times to 11 days—well over the seven-day grace period before storage fees apply. September saw slight improvements in container pickup times by truck at the four largest ports, averaging 4 hours and 44 minutes. Customs procedures accounted for the longest segment (2 hours, 19 minutes), with handling taking an hour and three minutes, and truck waiting times averaging one hour and 22 minutes.

At Lazaro Cardenas, the average pickup time stretched to six hours, with customs accounting for nearly half of that at 2.9 hours. At the Intermodal Transport Congress hosted by the Mexican Association of Intermodal Transport, Hutchison Ports Mexico’s commercial director, Francisco Orozco, urged logistics groups and customs officials to collaborate on solutions, suggesting an assessment of 24-hour customs operations. However, a 24/7 customs service seems unlikely, as staffing shortages are a recurring challenge for the agency.

Nonetheless, processing times at Lazaro Cardenas saw some improvement. But further steps are necessary. John Willy, president of the Latin American Federation of Customs Brokers, advocated for customs to enhance trade facilitation measures rather than focusing solely on national security, encouraging industry collaboration to draw greater attention from authorities.