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PROFILE: HUTCHISON PORTS LCT
SAILING AWAY FROM THE COMPETITION
Not content with operating Mexico’s largest port terminal, Hutchison Ports LCT aims to position itself within the top 50 major port terminals in the world. The port operator offers comprehensive logistics services, which are backed by infrastructure and high-performance personnel.
“Hutchison Ports LCT has the most agile dispatch in the Mexican port system, a product of the experience and knowledge gained from other terminal business units in our company. Nowadays, it only takes a few minutes to perform a container dispatch, which can be done from the customer’s office safely and efficiently.” —Alfredo Huesca Sánchez, General Manager
FACTS
Commercial Name: Hutchison Ports LCT
Fiscal Name: Lázaro Cárdenas Terminal Portuaria de
Contenedores
Business: Port operations and logistics
Employees: 1,500
Capacity: 2,000,000 TEUs
Opened: November 2003
Facilities: 3 berths on 76 hectares with four 600-meter rail spurs
Website: www.hutchisonportslct.com
The scholarly St. Jerome once said, “Good, better, best. Never let it rest, ’til your good is better and your better is best.” Container terminal Hutchison Ports LCT in Lázaro Cárdenas embodies this credo perfectly: the biggest port terminal in Mexico is expanding to make LCT even stronger, with more capacity and infrastructure to serve its customers.
Spurred by the Mexican government’s US$5 billion port infrastructure investment, LCT uses the latest-generation equipment and, when the upgrade is complete in November 2017, will be the most agile terminal in the entire Mexican port system. Its productivity will rival that of other top North American ports like Balboa, Panama, and Long Beach, in the United States. The expansion project boosts the strategically positioned Pacific port’s dynamic capacity to two million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) on a 76-hectare property that can accommodate up to three New Panamax ships simultaneously. The LCT terminal is supported by 39 yard cranes and can be accessed via four rail spurs, with four more planned.
Unmatched agility and productivity
Even before the expansion, LCT was already the nation’s most productive port facility. The company was founded in 2003 as a subsidiary of global port operator Hutchison Ports, and it has been able to leverage the knowledge and experience of its parent firm to improve its logistics. As a result, LCT boasts Mexico’s lowest delivery times and can process and disseminate 40 percent of its cargo on the same day.
Supported by this advanced system, LCT has fulfilled half-a-million error-free annual gate transactions consistently over the last five years within just 30 minutes per transaction, while offering some of the lowest client operating costs in the industry. The most visible facet of this innovation is Hutchison Ports’ MOBILEPORT digital app. It allows clients to view the progress of their payloads and see exactly where their cargoes are in real time. MOBILEPORT also provides alerts regarding shipment status, weather conditions, and itineraries of other vessels.
LCT’s clients also benefit from user-friendly websites and applications that substantially streamline the shipping process. Clients can order a delivery from their computers within minutes and complete all necessary documentation online two days before their shipment arrives. This allows the containers to be inspected immediately upon arrival and quickly loaded for transport to their final destination.
The result? Happy clients
Technology aside, LCT always strives to offer customized solutions to its clients. The company claims a diverse list of partnerships with multinationals like General Motors, Henco Global, and Samsung, and Walmart tapped LCT as its Terminal of the Year twice this decade.
LCT continues to eye future growth. In fact, it is aiming to become one of the top 50 port terminals in the world by early next decade. To do that, the company will have to provide comprehensive logistics services to a global clientele. As it continues to help set the standards in the international shipping industry, LCT will remain committed to the spirit of St. Jerome’s advice—and will measure its success not only in profits, but also in trust, partnerships, and client service.
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