• BLOCKADES: A nearly two-month-old teachers’ rail blockade in the western state of Michoacán has now expanded to three sites causing major losses to a strategic freight line that connects central Mexico with the country’s second most important seaport, the Port of Lázaro Cárdenas.
• COSTS: Arguing that the Michoacán government has failed to pay part of their salaries, teachers opted to block train operations at two additional sites west of the state capital of Morelia. Business organizations have pegged daily losses from the original blockade -which began on July 31st- at US $2.5 million.
• SHORTAGES: “The blockades not only generate a shortage of inputs (for industry), but there can also be a shortage of goods”, the Michoacán state’s industrial association (AIEMAC) said this week. “There is a risk of merchandise shortages in supermarkets, department stores and chemical products”.
• NUMBERS: Container cargo at the Port of Lázaro Cárdenas plummeted 19.3 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year, according to Mexican government data. Second in total traffic among Mexican seaports and behind Manzanillo, Lázaro Cárdenas processed 1 million TEUs in 2020.
