Mexico transported 11pc more gasoline, diesel and petrochemicals by rail in the first eight months of 2024 than in the same period a year prior.
Mexico's railroads moved 11.8mn metric tonnes (t) of those products year to date August, up from 10.7mn t in the same period a year earlier, according to national railway association (ARTF) data. Year-to-date August growth slowed this year from the 12pc annual growth in the same period in 2023.
ARTF said that oil and related products accounted for 13pc of the total 91mn t of cargo shipped from January-August 2024, but it did not disclose shipment data by specific product. The products share of overall cargo is just above the 12pc of all cargo shipped in the first eight months of 2023.
The Tamaulipas state petrochemical hub transported most of Mexico's oil products by rail from January-August, with about 3.49mn t, or 30pc, of the total volume.
The hub, adjacent to key US export centers, is home to state-owned Pemex's 190,000 b/d Madero refinery.
The state of Veracruz, where Pemex operates its 285,000 b/d Minatitlan refinery, was the second-largest transporter of oil and refined products by rail, at 22pc, or 2.6mn t.
Pemex typically transports around 4pc of its refined products — imported or domestically produced — by rail. Private-sector data are not available.
Diesel demand for cargo transport reached 485mn l (12,600 b/d) from January-August, a 3.2pc hike from the same period last year. Meanwhile, demand for diesel used for passenger rail transport more than doubled to 4.1mn l.
Passenger rail boom?
Diesel consumption for passenger rail is set to rise in coming years with President Claudia Sheinbaum promising to add more than 3,000km (1,865 miles) of passenger rail during her six-year term.
This is in addition to the 1,460km Maya railroad, which is expanding operations across the Yucatan peninsula. Sheinbaum, who took office on 1 October, has pledged to complete expansion of this line, introduce cargo traffic and complete projects like the Inter-oceanic railway and its extension to the Guatemala border.
Other projects will connect passenger rail to key cities in central Mexico, among them the Mexico-Queretaro route.
