Borderlands is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: Kuehne+Nagel is expanding in Texas to meet rising manufacturing demand; Canadian government opens cross-border trade office in Arizona; China-based automotive supplier opens factory in Aguascalientes, Mexico; and new 500,000-square-foot logistics hub being constructed near Dallas.
Global supply chain provider Kuehne+Nagel is launching a 363,000-square-foot logistics facility in the West Texas border market of El Paso, Texas, targeting cross-border trade.
The move will represent the consolidation of four warehouses into one and is focused on global companies that are making investments across Mexico due nearshoring, company officials said.
“This new, larger facility in El Paso increases our warehouse footprint, improves building efficiencies, and complements our freight forwarding services with final import and export services into or out of Mexico,” John Levin, Kuehne+Nagel regional vice president for the U.S., said in a news release.
Consolidating four warehouses under one roof will help drive efficiencies for customers by allowing the control of all trailer traffic in one site, while reducing the amount of time a truck is received and offloaded, according to Kuehne+Nagel.
The new logistics warehouse is scheduled to open Aug. 5 and aims to support the increasing number of freight shipments between El Paso and Juarez, Mexico, its sister city across the border.
Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, has around 300 maquiladoras — export factories in Mexico run by foreign companies — employing around 340,000 workers.
The factories make everything from automotive parts and electronics to food and beverage products, which are mostly shipped to the U.S. using commercial trucks.
Kuehne+Nagel’s warehouse will feature 54 dock doors, front and rear cross-dock capability, 125 truck yard spaces, as well as added vertical racked storage locations.
Kuehne+Nagel already has a significant footprint at the border, including facilities in Laredo, Texas, and in San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. The company plans to expand in Laredo by the end of the year.
Kuehne+Nagel isn’t the only logistics company making moves in El Paso. In April, Ryder System Inc. opened a logistics warehouse in the city, aiming to tap into growing cross-border trade between the U.S. and Mexico, company officials said.
Ryder’s newly built 50,000-square-foot logistics facility is located near the Ysleta-Zaragoza International Bridge, which connects El Paso to Juarez.
“If you look at the latest numbers, U.S. trade with Mexico is at nearly $800 billion annually, and the Ysleta port processes about nine to 10% of that,” Frank Bateman, vice president of supply chain operations for Ryder, said in a news release. “The site in El Paso also has the advantage of being strategically located along a popular stopping point for trucks, not only heading north and south across the border but for domestic loads heading east and west along Interstate 10.”
As of May 31, FreightWaves SONAR Outbound Tender Volume Index for El Paso (OTVI.ELP) was up about 7.7% year over year, but down about 3.5% week over week.
Canadian government opens cross-border trade office in Arizona
The Canadian government has opened a trade office in Phoenix aimed at increasing trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) between Arizona and Canada, according to a news release.
“The new trade office represents a significant step forward in the Arizona-Canada partnership,” Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said in a statement. “As one of Arizona’s strongest trading partners, this new trade office will foster economic growth and create new opportunities for cross-border collaboration.”
From 2018-2023, there were at least 20 FDI projects from Canada in Arizona, the most from any country. These projects accounted for $1.59 billion in capital investment and 2,677 projected new jobs.
Canadian companies with a presence in Arizona include XNRGY, which recently broke ground on its $300 million manufacturing facility and U.S. headquarters in Mesa, creating over 900 new jobs, and Li-Cycle, which opened its lithium-ion battery recycling facility in Gilbert in 2022.
In 2023, total trade between Arizona and Canada surpassed $5.3 billion. Arizona companies exported $2.7 billion worth of goods to Canada, which is Arizona’s second-largest export market. Arizona imported $2.6 billion worth of goods from Canada.
China-based automotive supplier opens factory in Aguascalientes, Mexico
Ningbo FengMei New Energy Automotive Technology Co. is making an investment of $15.6 million to build a plant in the Mexican city of Aguascalientes.
The project will begin construction this year and is scheduled to begin operations by the end of 2025, generating more than 1,000 direct jobs.
The company’s customers include Volkswagen, BMW Group, Stellantis, Volvo Group, Tesla and Rivian.
It will be Ningbo Feng Mei’s first in the Americas. The company was established in 2007 and has about 1,000 employees worldwide.
Crow Holdings Development has broken ground on Core30 Logistics Center, a 511,000-square-foot, two-building industrial campus in Dallas.
Completion of the facility is scheduled for 2025.
The logistics hub will include a 300,347-square-foot, cross-dock facility and a 210,653-square-foot front-load building. The two warehouses aim to provide quick access to Interstate 30. The development is also within 5 miles of downtown Dallas, while the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport is about 24 miles away.
Dallas-based Crow Holdings is a national real estate investment and development firm with $27 billion of assets under management.
