The port of Progreso is strategically located as a natural gateway to connect the year round feed importer, the Yucatan Peninsula, with the rest of the world by sea. Progreso port currently processes approximately 4 million metric tons of product, including hydrocarbons, agricultural bulk, containers and general cargo. Thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement, a near 200 percent growth in sales has occurred of U.S. corn, sorghum, barley and related co-products to Mexico.

With increased trade comes necessary infrastructure development—prompting more growth.

A project supported by the Progreso port to build a new access road to its offshore terminals will help to expand access and aid in increased transportation capacity.

“A number of ports in Mexico are under expansion projects to allow more trade,” said Julio Hernandez, U.S. Grains Council director in Mexico. “In this case, the port of Progreso will allow greater and faster operations for feed grains in terms of moving grain out of the terminal, which is good news for southeastern Mexico and U.S. grain exporters.”

The improvement in infrastructure means U.S. products could be easily and more affordably transferred to end-users in remote southeastern states like Chiapas and Tabasco.

It is estimated there are as many as 4 million beef and dual-purpose cattle, 1 million swine, 24 million broilers and 600,000 layers located in southeastern Mexico. As this area trends toward more economically stable production practices, such as feedlots, southern Mexico’s feed grain demand will grow.

“Allowing greater access to U.S. feed grains in this region will provide increased opportunity for U.S. coarse grains and co-products to fill southeastern Mexico’s growing feed demand,” said Hernandez.