Mexican Mega-Port Opens Bidding

Mexico’s government opened bidding yesterday for the contract to build the $4bn+ port at Punta Colonet in Baja California. The government says the massive project should be ready to start construction next year for completion in 2012. Some analysts say it could be worth as much as $7bn. The West Coast facility – Latin America’s first greenfield port – is the biggest in Felipe Calderon’s infrastructure plan and should divert container traffic away from the congested US ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, through a planned rail connection to the US. Official bidding documents are set to be made available Tuesday, according to Mexican press reports citing transport secretary Luis Tellez. The world’s leading infrastructure names are expected to participate. Carlos Slim’s Ideal has formed a consortium with Grupo Ferromex and cargo terminal operator MTC Holdings. Other expected names include ICA, Hutchison Port Holdings, SSA Marine and DP World, as well as rail groups Union Pacific and BNSF. Financing the build will be a great challenge for the winner, as there is no real precedent, the complexities of integrating large port and rail operations are not well understood, and the Panama Canal expansion and other maritime projects in the region compete for investor attention.