Mexico Seeks Deal With Vulcan Materials to End International Arbitration

Mexico City — The Mexican government is working on an agreement with Vulcan Materials, the parent company of the shuttered Calica quarry, to end an international arbitration process. The proposal includes allowing the company to extract stone at a different site and giving additional uses to the Punta Venado port.

President Claudia Sheinbaum announced the plan during her Monday morning press conference, responding to questions about Vulcan’s alleged demands in USMCA negotiations, which reportedly include a new 40-year concession, compensation for lost operating years, and revocation of the protected natural area designation on its properties.

Sheinbaum neither confirmed nor denied whether Vulcan was included in the trade deal renegotiation topics but said the feasibility of an agreement is being analyzed.

“They cannot continue extracting where they were extracting. Right now the port is closed. It is a concession the Mexican state granted to Vulcan,” Sheinbaum said.

The proposed deal would allow Vulcan to extract stone at a different, feasible location and in smaller quantities than before. The port would also be opened for other uses beyond transporting stone.

The federal government is also demanding that Vulcan pay for the environmental remediation of the former Calica mine.

Sheinbaum said the agreement has not been finalized and will be made public once accepted. If the company rejects it, the arbitration will continue to its conclusion. Several government agencies are working on the deal.

Cancun Has Most Expensive Gasoline in Mexico

Earlier in the press conference, Iván Escalante Ruiz, head of the Federal Consumer Protection Agency (Profeco), presented the “Who’s Who in Gasoline Prices” segment, revealing that the most expensive fuel in the country is sold in Cancun.

Profeco’s weekly price comparison placed the Go Gas station in Cancun in first place with an average cost of 25.29 pesos per liter — the highest not only in the Southeast but in all of Mexico. Go Gas earns a profit margin of 2.97 pesos per liter, also above other companies in the sector.