US company rejects Mexican government’s offer to buy its property due to environmental dispute – LAWYER

U.S. construction company Vulcan Materials said Monday it has turned down an offer from the Mexican government to buy its operations site in Mexico’s coastal Caribbean state of Quintana Roo, local media reported.

The company said it would not abandon years of investment and work for “a nominal value far from reality and unilaterally imposed by the Mexican government.”

Vulcan Materials is a United States-based company specializing in the production of construction materials. It has a unit called Calica in Mexico with concessions in Quintana Roo where it mines limestone and ships it to the United States for use in construction.

The company’s refusal follows Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s proposal last July to buy the company’s property on the Caribbean coast for $385 million, due to alleged damage to the system. neighbor of caves and underground rivers by the activity of the company. However, Vulcan Materials denied the Mexican government’s allegations and called them “false accusations.” He further clarified that it has been producing essential materials for the maintenance and construction of infrastructure such as airports, highways and streets for 40 years, in accordance with international and local standards. In addition, the American company clarified that it never received a formal offer to purchase the land and called the Mexican president’s proposal an “informal valuation” that underestimates the company’s assets. .

The Mexican government’s bid to buy the construction company’s property was initiated by President Obrador in an effort to end a year-long conflict between Vulcan Materials and the Mexican government over the decision. of the latter to stop the company’s quarrying activities in Quintana Roo. In March 2022, Mexican authorities closed Vulcan Materials’ limestone site, including port facilities used for transportation operations, and accused the company of mining and exporting limestone without legal authorization. Additionally, a Mexican cement company called Cemex, aided by the police and military, entered Vulcan Materials’ port facilities and used them to unload goods.

Vulcan Materials filed a complaint against the Mexican government before an international arbitration panel through which it sought $1.9 billion in compensation for violations of the Mexico-United States-Canada trade agreement (USMCA). The construction company called the closure decision an “illegal occupation of Vulcan property” and noted that it owns four parcels of property that constitute its operations in Mexico, including a shipping port. The company also added that it purchased the property in 1980 when it was limestone reserve land but, thanks to its activity and investments, it now includes a deep draft port. water, maritime infrastructure, freshwater lakes in addition to reforested vegetation.

Vulcan Materials also alleged in its statement that the Mexican government expressed concern about the ecological impact of mining activity as it sought to purchase the company’s property in order to convert it into a “protected natural area” intended to tourism. , cruise ship operations and naval activities.

Although it said it would not accept the “illegal expropriation of its investments” in Mexico, Vulcan Materials said it remained open to negotiating a peaceful solution with the Mexican government.