Storm Alberto Disrupts Automotive Supply Chain Across Mexico and US

Last week, Tropical Storm Alberto caused significant flooding in portions of northeast Mexico, knocking out power and blocking highways in the Monterrey manufacturing cluster. The storm hampered container and ro-ro exports to the port of Altamira and shuttered the port of Tampico, however, both ports are now open again, and the storm has been downgraded to a tropical depression. Cross-border automobile parts exports to the United States via Laredo have also stalled due to the interruption in Mexico, while the hurricane has inundated parts of the US Gulf Coast, including Galveston. Mike Burkhart, vice-president for Mexico at logistics company CH Robinson, stated that imports of containerized parts via Altamira were impacted. Burkhart stated, "We move a lot of containers through there for our automotive customers, primarily imports from Europe, Brazil, and Argentina." According to Burkhart, as the storm moved closer to the shore on June 19, the port of Altamira was closed. Five ships were berthed there, while twelve more were at anchor outside the port, and six more were scheduled to arrive over the next few days. He added that in order to avoid the traffic, ships were slowing down as they approached the port. Burkhart stated last week that while customs is working in a restricted manner, some containers are still on board and some are still at the terminals. "The ships that had already arrived were able to be partially unloaded Wednesday (June 19)." Dragging carriers were placed on hold while customs was halted until the situation stabilized. The fourth-biggest container port in Mexico is Altamira. With 456,000 completed vehicles handled last year, it saw a 33% rise in finished vehicle processing, making it the third largest vehicle handling port in Mexico and the fifth busiest in all of North America by volume. In addition to handling vehicle exports, which rose by about 440%