MEXICO'S river-sea port Puerto de Tuxpan has suspended tenders for a 20-year concession to run a MXN2.5 billion (US$195 million) container terminal with designed annual capacity of 90,000-TEU.

The 20-year tender set to receive bids was suspended following an official complaint of unfair competition by local firm Transportacion Carretera towards locally-based Riberas de Pantepec who operates adjacent storage facilities, which were not included in the package.

The port operator SSA Mexico initial bid for the 51,520 square metre terminal was refused on environmental grounds.

In a report the port authority's commercial head Jose Timoteo Garcia was cited as saying in Business News Americas report that a date for reopening the tendering process has not been set.