Introduction / introducciÓn
4
The creation of API Manzanillo Surgimiento de la API Manzanillo
T
he port authority responsible for Manzanillo is the Administración Portuaria Integral de
Manzanillo, S.A. de C.V. (API), an unlisted variable capital corporation. This is a federal agency created in 1993 and awarded a 50-year entitlement to manage, promote, build, develop and maintain the Port of Manzanillo. API’s mission involves making positive contributions to the production chains for the development of national and international shipping and thus also promoting the economic growth of the region. Over the past decade, API Manzanillo has implemented such improvements as dredging the canals, extending the highway to Jalipa and various projects to adapt the port to the needs of international trade.
innovation API was established as a result of the restructuring of Mexico’s ports and the creation of the Coordinación General de Puertos y Marina Mercante (Agency for the General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Shipping) in the wake of the New Ports Law in 1993.
be noted that Puerto Manzanillo has been free of strikes for over 90 years.
This was a total innovation in administrative selfmanagement, in that the port itself was now able
API Manzanillo began life on 2 February 1994 and
to propose and implement steady growth through
a year later it initiated the process of privatizing
long-term entitlements to private parties.
terminals, facilities and provision of services.
The new port legislation led to a wave of privatizations in relation to the operation of port terminals, facilities
opportunity
and services, promoting free competition among
The creation of API Manzanillo brought many benefits,
service providers and bringing direct benefits for the
one of which was the opportunity for private capital to
end-user.
be invested in port infrastructure. These investments, amounting to thousands of millions of pesos, went into
For the first time, it was possible to assign by public
the development of new terminals, facilities and port
tender the operation of facilities, terminals and areas
services. Today, all the port services are operated by
for the construction of new dedicated facilities.
private companies and private investment for new port infrastructures continues to arrive.
This legislation changed the way the labor force organized itself, leading to the creation of new labor
The establishment of API Manzanillo opened up the
unions and new collective labor agreements. It should
possibility of receiving foreign investments for up to