Information collected from media reports over the past month:
- Automotive: Japanese bearings maker NSK will invest approximately US$70 million to construct a new manufacturing plant in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, the company announced. The new facility, to begin production in 2014, is planned to supply the regional automotive industry in the face of rising demand from the NAFTA zone auto market. (Reforma, February 5, 2013)
- Animal feed: MaltaCleyton, subsidiary of French animal feed maker InVivo, opened a new pet food production plant in the southern state of Morelos. The US$18 million facility, the company’s tenth in Mexico, will require corn, wheat, sorghum, vitamins, fat, chicken meal and meat, the company reported. (El Financiero, February 21, 2013)
- Biotechnology: Mexico’s CIMMYT Maize and Wheat Improvement Center inaugurated a US$25 million advanced bioscience research center in the central State of Mexico. The foundations of magnates Bill Gates and Carlos Slim contributed to the project, which will conduct research in support of seed improvement. (CIMMYT, February 13, 2013)
- Transportation: The Mexican government plans to issue tenders this year for construction of two major new passenger rail lines at a total estimated cost of approximately US$3.2 billion, the Transport Ministry (SCT) announced. The lines would run from Mexico City to the central industrial city of Queretaro and from the Yucatan state capital of Merida to the Riviera Maya region on the Caribbean coast. (El Financiero, January 29, 2013)
- Retail: Coffee shop chain Cielito Querido Cafe, owned by Mexican inter-city passenger bus operator ADO, will invest approximately US$8 million this year to expand operations. Plans include the opening of 24 new sales locations in the Mexico City metropolitan area. (El Financiero, February 18, 2013)
- Solar power: Mexican solar panel maker Solartec is investing approximately US$63 million to bring equipment and technology from Belgium to Mexico to produce photovoltaic panels in the central state of Guanajuato. Outlays will cover purchasing the assets of Belgian manufacturer Photovoltech and relocating them in Mexico to create a new firm to be called Solarcell. (Milenio, February 21, 2013) Read the rest of this entry »
