- Automotive: U.S. auto maker General Motors announced US$900 million in additional investment in Mexico in the coming years. The resources are planned to expand production capabilities at various of the company’s plants in the country.
- Manufacturing: British-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever inaugurated a new manufacturing plant in the state of Morelos, near Mexico City. The US$84 million facility will produce personal care products for the brands Axe, Dove and Rexona.
- Tourism: Mexican hotel operator Grupo Posadas will invest US$140 million this year in new hotel projects in Mexico. With tourism showing signs of recovery after the long economic downturn, Posadas’ Mexican investment is part of a total US$400 million projected by the company for new projects throughout Latin America.
- Wind power: The Mexican subsidiary of U.S.-based Cannon Power Group revealed plans to invest US$2.5 billion to develop three new wind farms in Mexico. The newly created Mexico Power group plans generating plants with combined capacity over 300 MW for the states of Baja California, Zacatecas and Quintana Roo.
- Metals: Chilean metals processor Molymet will invest US$135 million to build a new production plant in Sonora, Mexico. The new plant will add to the company’s existing molybdenum processing infrastructure in the state.
- Food processing: Leading Mexican meat processor SuKarne will invest US$270 million to build a large production facility in the north eastern state of Nuevo Leon. The project is planned to include livestock raising facilities, a feed plant, a federally certified slaughterhouse, a packing plant, a distribution center and a rail shipping link. Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for category Energy
Oh no
The process of implementing a rule change for product labeling that began last year may mean more work and expense for some importers, but so far it’s a little hard to tell exactly where the process stands.
The new rule, which requires additional information on energy consumption for some electric products, is ostensibly aimed at lowering overall energy consumption to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help consumers lower their electric bills. But tracking exactly what is required and when has not been easy.
In September 2010, the Secretaría de Energía published a list of electric appliances for household and commercial uses that will be required to declare the product energy consumption in Spanish on a label directly on the product. Affected products include vacuum cleaners, blenders, coffee makers, juice extractors, air conditioners, refrigerators, microwave ovens, irons and hair dryers, among others. The full list of products can be found here. Read the rest of this entry »
Reports on some recent and upcoming investment collected from the local business media:
- Mining: Canadian mining firm Chesapeake Gold Corp. will invest up to US$3.5 billion over the coming years in a large scale project to develop gold and silver extraction operations at its Metate site in Durango, northern Mexico. The site is projected to become one of the world’s largest producers of the precious metals.
- Automotive: German auto parts manufacturer Schaeffler will invest US$120 million to boost its operations in central Mexico. The resources will be used to expand production infrastructure at the company’s plant in Irapuato, Guanajuato, which produces parts for automobile motors, transmissions and chassis.
- Food processing: Mexican multinational baking giant Grupo Bimbo revealed plans for US$190 million worth of investment in Mexico this year. Much of the resources are earmarked for upgrades to increase operational efficiency at the company’s 45 production plants in the country.
- Logistics: Mexican courier company Estafeta will build four new operations centers in Mexico beginning this year, as part of the firm’s US$37.5 million expansion plans for 2011. Estafeta reported its cargo levels have returned to 2008 levels, and the company is projecting 6% growth for the current year.
- Automotive: Japanese tire giant Bridgestone will invest US$100 million this year to boost production capacity in Mexico. The expanded output at Bridgestone plants in the cities of Monterrey and Cuernavaca is intended to meet demand in the United States.
- Energy: Mexican solar panel manufacturer Solartec is investing US$5.4 million to construct and equip a new research center in the central state of Guanajuato. The goal of the new facility will be to develop technological improvements that will halve the cost of photovoltaic solar electricity systems in Mexico by 2015. Read the rest of this entry »
Reports on some recent and upcoming investment collected from the local business media:
- Beverage: Mexico’s leading beer producer, Grupo Modelo, announced plans to invest US$400 million in 2011 in upgrades and expansion. Resources are earmarked for improvements to the company’s production plant in Coahuila and to support market share gains in the U.S., Canadian and Australian markets.
- Automotive: Italian tire maker Pirelli is initiating construction on a new US$210 million production facility in Mexico’s central state of Guanajuato. The major plant will produce car and truck tires for the domestic Mexican market as well as for the rest of North America.
- Food processing: Snack food and beverage giant PepsiCo inaugurated a new Financial Services Center in Mexico City. The US$2.7 million facility, which will handle financial and administrative corporate operations for Central America and the Caribbean, is part of the company’s five-year plan to invest US$3 billion in the region in infrastructure and community relations.
- Energy: Spanish energy conglomerate Gas Natural Fenosa revealed upcoming investment plans for Mexico including approximately US$60 million for natural gas distribution projects and US$50 million for electricity generation. The company’s electricity generating capacity in Mexico represents 15% of the country’s independent production capacity, according to their own estimates. Read the rest of this entry »
Reports on some recent and upcoming investment collected from the local business media:
- Energy: U.S. energy giant General Electric inaugurated an advanced research center in the central Mexican state of Queretaro. The US$20 million facility, located close to one of Mexico’s leading aerospace clusters, will contribute to the design of airplane turbines and power generation systems.
- Retail: Mexico’s leading retailer, Wal-Mart de Mexico, revealed plans to invest US$1.2 billion in Mexico in 2011. The record-setting amount will help cover the opening of a projected 365 new retail locations across the company’s formats.
- Electronics: German electronics manufacturer Siemens is investing a combined US50 million in new assembly and testing infrastructure in the central state of Queretaro. The facilities will produce equipment for high voltage systems as well as contribute to new product development.
- Manufacturing: Construction is underway on the fifth Mexico plant of Dutch lighting products manufacturer Philips. The new facility, located in the northeastern city of Monterrey, is planned to produce lighting equipment for residential, industrial, commercial and municipal applications.
- Transport: Kansas City Southern railroad’s Mexico subsidiary announced plans to invest US$125 million in upgrades this year. The 2011 resources, an increase over 2010, are earmarked for infrastructure development, railway network maintenance and the purchase of equipment and technology.
- Retail: Leading Mexican grocery and general merchandise chain Soriana will invest US$300 million to open new stores in 2011, the company announced. Planned store openings include aggressive expansion of the chain’s downscale “Soriana Express” format.
- Food processing: Food and beverage giant Pepsico will invest US$40 million in Mexico over the next seven years to expand the cultivation of sunflower. Oil from the plants will be used in the production of the company’s baked goods under the brands Sabritas, Gamesa and Quaker. Read the rest of this entry »
Reports on some recent and upcoming investment collected from the local business media:
- Aviation: Mexican airline VivaAerobus will invest US$30 million this year to acquire eight Boeing 737-300 aircraft. The principally domestic carrier will use the new planes to add domestic and possibly international routes as well. VivaAerobus has expanded steadily since entering the market in 2006.
- Automotive: U.S. automaker General Motors announced plans to invest US$540 million to expand production at its existing plant at Toluca, just west of Mexico City. The added infrastructure will accommodate production of two new models of energy efficient engines. GM is Mexico’s largest auto maker.
- Energy: Spanish renewable energy developer Iberdrola plans to invest US$400 million in its Mexico operations through the end of 2012. Iberdrola recently purchased an existing wind farm in southern Mexico from fellow Spanish energy firm Gamesa, and is currently building another wind farm in the same region.
- Logistics: Hutchison Port Holdings will undertake US$200 million worth of expansion and upgrades at the Port of Lazaro Cardenas on Mexico’s Pacific coast this year. Planned works include dock construction, addition of berths and expansion of switching and storage yards to handle cargo containers.
- Aviation: Mexican domestic air carrier Interjet announced plans to invest over US$90 million over the coming two years. The resources are earmarked for tripling the capacity of the airline’s maintenance center and acquiring a substantial number of new aircraft. Interjet reportedly will become the first Latin American airline to use Sukhoi jets, of Ruso-European manufacture, on its scheduled routes.
- Automotive: U.S. automaker General Motors will invest US$300 million to upgrade and adapt its manufacturing plant in the northeastern state of San Luís Potosí. Expansion of the plant is intended to accommodate production of a new compact model not currently being built in Mexico.
- Manufacturing: U.S.-based furniture manufacturer Furniture Brands is investing US$20 million to outfit an existing maquiladora plant in the southeastern state of Yucatan to produce cut-and-sew kits for its U.S. upholstery operations. The facility is expected to initiate production in mid-2011. Read the rest of this entry »
Reports on some recent and upcoming investment collected from the local business media:
- Retail: Mexican franchise operating group Alsea announced plans to invest approximately US$400 million over the next five years to open new stores. The licensee in Mexico of brands such as Domino’s, Starbucks, Burger King and Chili’s, Alsea will also add locations in Chile, Argentina and Colombia.
- Energy: Mexican industrial baking giant Grupo Bimbo announced the initiation of construction of a major wind farm in southern Mexico that is intended to supply nearly 100% of the company’s domestic electricity needs. The majority of the US$200 million investment in the site will be supplied by Spanish renewable energy developer Renovalia, which will build and operate the facility.
- Manufacturing: U.S.-based tile and floor covering materials producer Dal-Tile Corp. will invest US$111 million in a new manufacturing plant in the central city of Salamanca, Guanajuato. The new facility, planned for construction in 2011, will become the second plant in Mexico operated by local subsidiary Daltile de México.
- Recycling: Member companies of the Mexican plastic bag industry association (Inboplast) will invest over US$12 million in the development of 24 bag recycling plants beginning next year. The plants are intended to take greater advantage of underutilized plastic in Mexico City’s enormous landfills.
- Energy: Dubai-based alternative energy developers Rubenius announced plans to invest up to US$4 billion to construct a large scale energy storage facility in Mexicali, Mexico near the U.S. border. The site is planned to store 1,000 Mw of solar, wind and geothermal energy for distribution to grids in both Mexico and the United States. Read the rest of this entry »
Reports on some recent and upcoming investment collected from the local business media:
- Retail: Grocery and general merchandise retailer Grupo Chedraui revealed plans to double its stores in Mexico to 280 in the coming years. The chain, now third largest in its sector in the country, has grown rapidly in recent years and currently operates 143 retail locations.
- Logistics: Mexican logistics and transport firm Grupo Transportación Marítima Mexicana (TMM) will begin construction in 2011 on a new multimodal terminal at the Port of Tuxpan, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The US$350 million facility is planned to handle liquid, solid and container cargo.
- Energy: Eoliatec de Mexico, subsidiary of Spain’s Eolia Renovables, signed contracts with communal farmers in Jalisco helping to clear the way for the development of the state’s first wind farm. The firm projects investment of US$185 million in the electricity generation facility with a capacity of 60Mw.
- Manufacturing: Brazil-based Embraco, a manufacturer of refrigeration compressors, announced plans to begin manufacturing at a new plant in Apodaca, Nuevo Leon in 2011. The US$90 million investment will allow the company to serve Mexico’s refrigerator manufacturers via domestic production, in addition to exporting to the United States and Canada.
- Biofuel: A new bio-diesel plant is currently under construction in the southeastern state of Chiapas, set to begin production in early 2011. The US$3.5 million dollar facility, financed jointly by various federal government agencies, will use locally grown African palm and jatropha to produce diesel fuel to supply public transportation systems in the cities of Tuxtla Gutierrez and Tapachula in the state. Read the rest of this entry »
Be the first on your block
Mexico’s progress in making greater use of renewable energy sources has long been shackled by regulatory restrictions on independent energy generation by private enterprises and citizens. This, of course, has much to do with the histrionics of political sectors that oppose energy reform for reasons wholly unrelated to energy, but that’s another topic. It’s a fundamental problem of, as we say in Mexico, “ni picha, ni cacha, ni deja batear.” The resources of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) are far too stretched to finance a wide range of innovative alternative generation projects, particularly at the micro level, but regulation has largely prevented anyone else from generating electricity, even for their own consumption. Some furtive steps toward modernization of the regulatory framework fortunately have been taken in recent years. One such step, introduced almost surreptitiously in 2007, was the Interconnection Contract for Small-Scale Solar Energy Sources, which permitted private generation of up to 10kw for residential use and 30kw for general low tension use. Although the practical impact of this regulatory innovation was virtually nonexistent, it is significant nonetheless in that it represents Mexico’s first toe-dip in the waters of net metering for private electricity generation. Now, however, the government has taken another important step forward toward clearing the way for wider use of net metering for private electricity generation. Read the rest of this entry »
Jatropha
Chiapas state capital Tuxtla Gutierrez has become Mexico’s first city to implement public transportation run on biodiesel, local media and the Chiapas state government have announced. In early January 2010, the city’s mass transit system introduced two bus routes served by 71 new vehicles running on biodiesel produced in the state. The buses will run initially on a 20/80 mixture of biodiesel and conventional diesel, but are planned to switch to a 50/50 mix mid-month and ultimately to 100% biodiesel by March. The new technology will replace 143 vehicles that previously ran on fossil fuels.
The biodiesel to supply the Tuxtla buses is produced from jatropha grown in Chiapas under a government program designed to offer local farmers a profitable alternative to subsistence agriculture. The state currently has 10,000 hectares under jatropha production, and a biodiesel plant with capacity to produce up to 20,000 liters per day, according to information provided by the Governor’s public affairs office. Chiapas is also producing oil palm and castor oil plants for future use in biodiesel production.
