LAREDO, United States — The teeming warehouses hewn into the desert surrounding Laredo, Texas, bear witness to an explosion in trade between the US and Mexico.اضافة اعلان
On a recent morning, 55-gallon drums full of chemicals concocted in Ohio awaited trucks that would transport them across the Rio Grande for use as raw materials at a paint factory in the Mexican industrial city of Monterrey. The brake pads made in Mexico were destined for the north and were delivered to trucking companies as far away as South Dakota.
Trucks pass through a toll booth before entering Mexico on the World Trade Bridge, which handles commercial traffic only, December 28, 2022 in Laredo, Texas.
As trade expands, so do the opportunities for Laredo, a sprawling city of over 250,000 that has long been the dominant land port on the twisting US-Mexico border. Now it is poised to become an even more important part of the global economy. American companies, sobered by the pandemic’s supply chain upheaval and alarmed by US-China hostility, are reducing their reliance on factories across the Pacific by shifting production to Mexico.
Already, about $800 million worth of products as diverse as auto parts, clothing, and avocados pass through Laredo every day. That reality is underscored by the parade of trucks that rumble through, waiting – often for hours – for their chance to cross a bridge over the Rio Grande, the murky river that separates Texas from Mexico.
By almost every indication, more goods are on the move, presenting a tremendous opportunity for customs brokers, freight handlers and trucking companies.
“It’s a busy city. It’s amazing how much movement the city is seeing in terms of freight.”
“Everyone here has grown — 10, 20, 30 percent every year,” said Pablo Garza, 30, head of strategic planning at Akzent Logistics, which owns two warehouses in Laredo and has almost finished building a third. “It’s a busy city. It’s amazing how much movement the city is seeing in terms of freight.”
Catching up on a trade explosionDuring an event at City Hall last month, local officials celebrated a milestone — data showing $27 billion worth of cargo was moved through Laredo in October and up the river through the two ocean ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California , the main gate for, exceeded American imports.
Southern California’s ports grew exponentially during an era of globalization centered on China. Laredo seems poised to play a similar role in the expected next phase of globalization, which focuses on regional supply chains, with American companies relying more heavily on Mexico and Central America.
But the exhilaration is tinged with concern as businesses and city leaders fear the existing infrastructure — a pair of trade bridges over the Rio Grande, congested roads and a hive of warehouses — could be overwhelmed by an influx of cargo.
“We have to forestall this coming tsunami,” said then-Mayor of Laredo, Pete Saenz. “We are now behind.”
A huge expansion is underway. North of the city, an army of backhoes ripped at the pale earth, turning cactus-strewn ranch lands into industrial parks, warehouses, and truck yards on both sides of Interstate 35, the sidewalk that connects Mexico to the central part of the United States and Canada.
According to Prologis, a real estate investment firm, about 186,000 square feet of storage space is under construction in Laredo. This corresponds to an area increase of 5 percent.
But since the warehouses are more than 98 percent occupied, the new facilities can fill up quickly.
“Many companies are no longer willing to chase cheap labor at the expense of getting their goods to customers on time.”
“There’s definitely a space issue at Laredo,” Garza said. “The camps are full. We often say no to customers.”
Just the beginning?According to U.S. Census data, trade in goods between the U.S. and Mexico exceeded $660 billion in 2021, an increase of nearly a fifth from the previous year. According to available data, trade expanded at a similar rate last year.
Adding to the urgency is the widespread assumption that this is just the beginning of what could be decades of trade growth between the two neighboring countries, as American retailers seek suppliers in the same hemisphere as their customers.
“Many companies are no longer willing to chase cheap labor at the expense of getting their goods to customers on time,” said Gene Lindgren, president of Laredo Economic Development Corp., which is soliciting investment for projects in the region. “China is so big that taking just a tiny bit and placing it in Mexico is huge for Laredo.”
Four years ago, the U.S. Department of Transportation forecast a steep increase in trucks passing through Laredo, with southbound border crossings alone reaching 9,800 by 2025. Traffic reached this level in late 2021, four years earlier than expected.
“All forecasts are lagging behind,” said Glafiro Montemayor, president of Gemco, another Laredo-based freight handler. He noted that cross-border goods have more than doubled since 2000 without the addition of major infrastructure.
Some American companies importing goods from Asia are already bypassing Southern California docks and instead shipping to Manzanillo on Mexico’s Pacific coast.
“Laredo is full of trucks,” he added. “How will you deal with this?”
Optimization of logisticsMontemayor is raising funds for a project presented as an answer to that question: a $360 million bridge that will cross the Rio Grande south of Laredo. The customs process would be handled jointly by American and Mexican authorities, which would only entail an inspection. This would allow trucks to complete the crossing within 30 minutes.
The Mexican government has already approved the project, Montemayor said, while the US State Department is nearing the completion of its own review.
His plan is a linchpin for a logistics hub that could offer an alternative to over-reliance on major ports like Los Angeles, the scene of nagging floating congestion during the worst months of the pandemic.
Nearly two-thirds of the containers reaching seaports on the U.S. west coast are destined for the mid-country and east coast – regions that are more easily accessible by rail and truck from Laredo, Montemayor said.
The Kansas City Southern Railroad Bridge, connecting Mexico and the United States across the Rio Grande, in Laredo, Texas.
Some American companies importing goods from Asia are already bypassing Southern California docks and instead shipping to Manzanillo on Mexico’s Pacific coast. From there, they transport containers north to Laredo en route to destinations throughout North America.
Kansas City Southern, the giant railroad, picks up containers from Asia at the port of Lázaro Cárdenas in the Mexican state of Michoacán and brings them north. The company recently broke ground on a $100 million project that will double the capacity of a railroad bridge across the Rio Grande.
At the same time, the Mexican authorities are pursuing their own plans to facilitate the flow of goods across the border.
In Laredo, business interests and local government officials are accusing state and federal agencies of jeopardizing opportunities for the area by withholding funds needed to expand the surrounding highway system.
They complain that the Texas Department of Transportation bases freeway funding on the basis of population — a process that favors big cities like Dallas and Houston — even though traffic flowing through Laredo supports jobs at retailers and warehouses across the state and beyond.
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