APM, the terminal operation division of Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk, will participate in the tender to expand the Port of Veracruz in southeastern Mexico.

A successful tender would give the company the final component in its plan to link the Caribbean/Atlantic port of Veracruz with its terminal currently under construction at the Pacific Coast Port of Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico’s second-largest container port, via rail lines connecting at the company’s Cuautitlan Izcalli intermodal facility near Mexico City.

The $900 million APM facility at Lazaro Cardenas will be the first automated terminal in Latin America, feature the largest on-dock intermodal rail facility at any Latin American port, and have an annual capacity of 1.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units).

The first phase of the Lazaro Cardenas TEC2 project includes installation of seven ship-to-shore cranes which feature a 24-container row reach, along with 2,460 feet of quay, able to accommodate the largest container vessels and a fully-automated gate. The terminal is slated to start operations next year.

The Port of Veracruz tender request is seen as part of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto’s efforts boost the nation’s economy by attracting $1.35 billion of investment for as many as five new cargo terminals at the port and help double the nation’s port capacity over the next six years.

The port has seen a marked growth in business over the past several years as the Mexican economy continues to grow and diversify with an overall five percent increase in overall cargo in the first eight months of this year.

From January to August of this year, more than 620,000 TEUs moved through Veracruz’s terminals, an increase of the 10.4 percent, compared to the same period in 2014.

During the same eight months, the port handled 524,698 vehicles, an 18.2 percent in the same period last year. Of that figure, 355, 213 were Mexican-made vehicles exported to markets throughout Latin America.