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Energy
Pemex Hires Noble Offshore Platform, Declares Second Tender Void
September 17, 2008
Pemex has hired an offshore drilling platform from Noble Corp. in a USD 132 million, two-year contract, but the state-owned oil company declared void a second drilling platform tender because bids did not meet requirements. The Noble platform will be used at the Cantarell offshore oil field and other areas of the Campeche Sound. Pemex also hired two modular rigs from Nabors Industries for drilling, workover and completion work on oil wells. The two 302-day contracts will cost Pemex a total of USD 54 million.
Weekly Gasoline Hikes Begin September 19
September 19, 2008
The Finance and Public Credit Ministry (SHCP) announced that raises in gasoline prices are due to begin on September 19. The increase will be between 0.02 MXN and MXN 0.03 per liter and will take the price of the Magna-graded gasoline to between MXN 8.5 and MXN 9 per liter. SHCP has estimated the subsidy will cost public coffers about MXN 240 billion this year, but a drop in international gasoline prices in recent weeks could lead to a lower figure.
PRI Legislators: Calderon's Oil Sector Reform Lacks Congressional Support
September 18, 2008
Senator Francisco Labastida, the President of the Senate's Energy Committee and a member of opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), said that President Calderon's proposal to allow private companies to own oil refineries has hit a wall in Congress. Labastida said that the reform is unlikely to be passed this month as was expected, since it lacks congressional support. Labastida said, however, that a preliminary ruling could be ready in October.
Storm-Hit U.S. Refiners Cancel Mexico Oil Cargoes
September 18, 2008
Pemex said that some U.S. oil refiners affected by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike canceled some Mexican crude oil cargoes. A spokesperson for the company said that the cancellations did not affect the company significantly and declined to provide further details about them.
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Banking, Insurance & Finance
Mexican Stocks Sink 3.79% On Financial Concerns
September 15, 2008
Mexican stocks sank to almost a two-year low as the collapse of Wall Street's Lehman Brothers stoked fears about the stability of the U.S. financial system, pushing investors to dump emerging market assets. Mexico's IPC stock index closed 3.79% lower at 24,618.15 points, its lowest level since November 2006. It was the IPC's biggest one-day drop in six months and represents losses of MXN 803 billion. Government officials also said that the peso (MXN) reached a MXN 10.67 per dollar exchange rate, its weakest level since late March.
SHCP, CNBV: Mexico Is Sheltered From Credit Storm
September 15, 2008
According to the Finance and Public Credit Ministry (SHCP), Mexico is weathering the current financial storm in the U.S. thanks to solid fiscal and monetary policies that have sheltered the country from the global credit crisis. In addition, the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) said that Mexico's banks have no meaningful exposure to U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers as the institution never really was a strong counterparty figure in the Mexican banking system. Meanwhile, the Mexican Banking Association (ABM) said that Lehman Brothers’ filing for bankruptcy will have severe consequences for Mexico.
HSBC To Sell Stake In Mexican Lender For USD 145 Million
September 18, 2008
A unit of U.K. bank HSBC Holdings said it had agreed to sell its minority stake in Mexican micro credit lender Financiera Independencia for USD 145 million. HSBC said its subsidiary, HSBC Overseas Holdings U.K., will sell its 18.6% stake in the Mexican lender as it decided to focus on its core business of providing personal financial services. Financiera Independencia said its controlling shareholders have agreed to buy 11.3% of the HSBC stake and plan to call a shareholders meeting to propose a reduction of shares in circulation, equivalent to about 7 % of HSBC's holding.
Banorte Discloses USD 22 Million In Lehman Brothers Exposure
September 17, 2008
Mexican bank Grupo Financiero Banorte disclosed USD 22 million in credit and counterparty exposure to U.S. peer Lehman Brothers. Banorte said that its credit exposure to Lehman Brothers consisted of about USD 20 million in senior notes maturing between 2013 and 2017, and counterparty exposure of about USD 2 million in interest rate swaps.
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Business & Industry
Unilever To Build New Plant In Mexico
September 19, 2008
U.K.-Dutch manufacturer of foods, home care and personal care products Unilever announced that it will invest MXN 600 million in a new plant in Mexico to supply the local and foreign markets. The company said it chose Mexico due to the increased amount of investments in infrastructure and because it offers macroeconomic stability. Unilever did not provide details on the location of the facility but stated that approximately 175 direct jobs will be created once the plant is fully operational.
Colombia Approves Mexichem Takeover Of Salt Processor
September 18, 2008
The Colombian antitrust regulator has authorized Mexican chemical company Mexichem to acquire Colombian salt processor Productos Derivados de la Sal (Prodesal), under the condition that Mexichem sells a bleach-making plant it owns in Colombia. Last month, the regulator blocked Mexichem from buying Prodesal, saying the acquisition would create barriers for potential competitors to enter the bleach market and hurt consumers. Mexichem appealed the decision and the regulator eventually authorized the takeover.
Olympus To Produce Instruments For Minimum Invasion Surgery
September 19, 2008
According to Japanese conglomerate Olympus' director for Latin America, the firm has begun developing medical tools and instruments to be used on minimum invasion surgery. The executive noted that the company's investment for research and the manufacturing of the mentioned tools amounted to USD 630 million in 2007. Olympus is seeking to diversify its products, since its cameras business is responsible for one-third of total worldwide sales.
Bardahl Begins Exporting To China
September 19, 2008
Mexican automotive fluids producer Bardahl announced that it began exporting its products to China in July and expects to have annual sales amounting to approximately 1 million USD during five years, after which the company plans to open a facility in the Asian country. Bardahl said it chose China due to its increased growth rates in the automotive sector.
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Automotive
AMDA: Mexico's Used Car Imports Are Indiscriminate
September 18, 2008
According to the Mexican Association of Auto Distributors (AMDA), Mexico is the only country among the world's top 20 economies that imports used cars in an indiscriminate manner. AMDA said that such a trend explains Mexico's automotive sector's behavior when compared to the other 19 economies, which are car producers, while Mexico is the world's #1 importer of used vehicles. Mexico has imported more than 3.4 million used vehicles between August 2005 and August 2008.
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Construction & Infrastructure
Mexico Says Talks Advance Between Cemex And Caracas
September 17, 2008
Mexico said that talks between cement maker Cemex and the Venezuelan government about a price for the company's assets expropriated by President Hugo Chavez are advancing positively. Foreign Affairs Minister Patricia Espinosa said that at this time Mexico and Venezuela are in a negotiating space in which the company and Venezuelan authorities are working out the value of Cemex's assets.
Retail
Gap Signs Franchise Deal For Expansion In Mexico
September 19, 2008
Gap, the global apparel retailer based in San Francisco, said that it would expand its Gap stores into Mexico through a franchise deal with Mexican department store chain Distribuidora Liverpool. Gap said that the chain will have the exclusive right to sell Gap merchandise through a franchised "store within a store" model. Liverpool plans to evaluate the market and determine the target number of total stores, but expects to open its first Gap "store within a store" next spring.
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Transportation
SCT Seeks Bids For Highway Concession
September 18, 2008
The Communications and Transport Ministry (SCT) has started seeking bids for a concession to operate, upgrade and expand toll roads in northeastern Mexico. The tender calls for the upgrading and construction of 451 kilometers of roads, as well as the construction of the country's first international rail bridge in over a century. The 30-year concession includes several highways from the northeastern industrial hub of Monterrey, in the state of Nuevo Leon to the U.S. border, and three border bridges. It also includes construction of other roads in the area.
Stevedoring Services Of America To Invest USD 105 In Manzanillo
September 17, 2008
Seattle-based multi-national corporation specializ in containers ports, Stevedoring Services of America (SSA Mexico), will invest USD 105 million in the port of Manzanillo, in the state of Colima, in order to expand the terminal's cargo capacity. The investment will reduce the country's logistics costs and will allow the port to increase its capacity to transfer containers to 38 units per hour/crane above the U.S. ports' average.
KCSM To Contest Court Decision On Passage Rights
September 19, 2008
U.S. railway company Kansas City Southern said that its Kansas City Southern de Mexico (KCSM) unit plans to contest a decision by Mexico's Administrative Federal Court in a dispute over passage rights with Mexican peer Ferromex. KCSM said it seeks a review of the court's decision and plans to pursue all available remedies. KCSM said that the court's decision, if upheld, would allow Ferromex to serve customers on the Kansas City Southern unit's rail lines in Monterrey, in the state of Nuevo Leon. The current ruling takes KCSM's exclusive right to the said tracks, a franchise for which it paid a high price.
Spain, Mexico Reach Accord Liberalizing Air Travel
September 19, 2008
The Spanish Development Ministry said that Spain and Mexico have agreed to liberalize air travel between the two countries through the elimination of limits on numbers of flights and other restrictions. The two governments have scrapped limits on the number of flights Spanish and Mexican airlines can make to and from the other country, as well as the restriction limiting the foreign carrier to operating from only two airports in the other nation.
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Telecommunications & Technology
SCT Publishes Requirements To Migrate From AM To FM Frequencies
September 18, 2008
The Communications and Transport Ministry (SCT) has published in the Official Gazette (DOF) the requirements AM radio operators must meet in order to migrate to FM frequencies. Whenever AM operators prove they have met the technical and legal requirements, they will have to pay a consideration to SCT in order to complete the process. There currently are 1,580 radio stations in Mexico, of which 854 broadcast through AM and 760 through FM frequencies.
Telmex, Indra Best Bidders In Mexico City's Bicentennial Project
September 17, 2008
According to Mexico City authorities, the Public Security Ministry's (SSPDF’s) tender to place 8,000 video cameras for surveillance throughout the city was declared void on September 5. Although it was reported earlier this year that U.S. telecom company Cisco's Lynksys subsidiary had won the tender, SSPDF can now award the contract directly to the company of its choice. Bidders include Telmex, Spain's Indra, France's Thales and Israel's Elbit. Authorities said that Indra and Telmex's offers are the more attractive.
Telmex, Other Firms Bid For Prisa's Digital+ Subsidiary
September 18, 2008
Spanish media company Promotora de Informaciones (Prisa) has confirmed that some companies, including Telmex, Spain's Telefonica, France’s Telecom, and France's Vivendi, among others, have bid for its satellite TV subsidiary Digital+. Prisa said that some bidders have made initial offerings of EUR 3 billion and that it is still in the negotiating process with interested parties.
Nokia Siemens Opens Mexico City Solution Center
September 16, 2008
Finish-Swedish telecoms provider Nokia Siemens Networks announced that it has opened its first Solution Experience Center in Latin America. The Mexico City center is the fourth such facility alongside sites in Helsinki, Munich and Atlanta. The Mexico City center is interconnected with its peer sites worldwide to demonstrate telecommunications solutions in a way that allows visitors to see, touch and feel what the end user will experience in the real world.
CompuCom Starts Operations In Mexico
September 18, 2008
U.S. IT outsourcing services provider CompuCom announced that it has begun operations in Mexico through a Global Services Center (GSC). CompuCom said that companies will have access to a broader range of IT outsourcing services as well as to technical support for users of its entrepreneurial applications and networks. CompuCom's GSC provides services to firms in the pharmaceutical, chemical, energetic and technological sectors in the U.S., Europe and Mexico.
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Media & Entertainment
Grupo Reforma's Director Moves To U.S. Due To Security Concerns
September 15, 2008
Alejandro Junco de la Vega, the president and general director of Mexico's most influential newspaper Grupo Reforma, explained in a letter to the Governor of the state of Nuevo Leon that he had to leave the country over safety concerns. Junco said in his letter that he was in the dilemma of compromising editorial integrity or move his family to a safe place; he therefore moved to Austin, Texas. Martha Treviño, the editorial director for El Norte, Grupo Reforma's Monterrey-based flagship newspaper, confirmed the letter was written by Junco.
Hospitality & Tourism
Tourism Ministers From Seven Countries Sign Cruise Ships Agreement
September 15, 2008
Mexico City's Tourism Minister has signed an agreement with the Tourism Ministers and officials from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Belize to set up a Latin American Mechanism for the consulting and concentration of the Tourism Ministers from the countries hosting cruise ships. The accord aims at improving the cruise ship industry’s conditions and benefiting directly from the advantages offered by the sector.
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Economy
INEGI: Mexico Unemployment Rate 4.15% In August
September 19, 2008
According to the National Statistics Institute (INEGI), Mexico's unemployment rate was 4.15% in August, slightly higher than expected. The unemployment reading was identical to the rate that was reported the previous month. Experts say that the unemployment figure is not considered a very accurate picture of Mexico's jobless rate because of how it is measured, but analysts sometimes refer to it as a gauge of likely changes in consumer demand.
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Border & Migration
Plane Carrying U.S., Mexican Officials Crashes In Texas
September 17, 2008
The governor of the state of Chihuahua, Jose Reyes Baeza, said that a small plane carrying International Water and Boundary Commission (IWBC) members from the United States and Mexico crashed in Texas, killing the four people aboard. Baeza said that the U.S. commissioner, Carlos Marin, and his Mexican counterpart, Arturo Herrera, Rio Grande Council of Governments executive director Jake Brisbin and the plane's pilot died in the crash. The officials were flying from El Paso, Texas, to Presidio, Texas, to inspect flooding along the Rio Grande when the accident occurred.
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Justice, Safety & Crime
Grenade Attacks Kill Eight On Mexico's Independence Day Anniversary
September 17, 2008
Eight people were killed and hundreds wounded when unknown persons tossed grenades in the middle of the crowd celebrating Mexico's Independence Day in the main plaza of Morelia, the capital of the state of Michoacan. Authorities suspect that operatives from the Gulf Cartel were responsible for the attack. Police reported that they arrested three suspects who were later released as they did not have links with the attacks. President Calderon pledged a military response to the attack. Police said that banners blaming the Gulf Cartel for the attacks were hung across the city. The U.S. government said that it had warned Mexico that drug cartels could use terrorist attacks.
U.S., Mexican, Italian Authorities Lead To 175 Arrests Of Traffickers In Drug Ring
September 17, 2008
U.S. officials announced the arrests of 175 people in the United States and Italy suspected of helping Mexico's Gulf drug cartel traffic drugs and launder profits. U.S. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said the arrests were made after 15 months of investigation into the cartel, which traffics in cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana and plays a major role in the escalating level of violence in Mexico. Working with authorities in Italy, ten suspects were taken into custody in that country on charges related to trafficking drugs through New York. Together with earlier arrests as part of the same operation, authorities said they had taken in more than 500 suspects and seized more than 16 tons of cocaine and more than USD 60 million in currency.
U.S. Includes Mexico In List Of Top 20 Illegal Drug Producers
September 17, 2008
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has disclosed its list of Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2009. The list includes Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela. However, U.S. officials said that cooperation between Mexico and the U.S. will be strengthened with the Merida Initiative aid package.
Army Finds USD 26 Million In Drug Cash
September 18, 2008
The National Defense Ministry (SEDENA) said that the army has seized USD 26.2 million in cash believed to belong to members of the Sinaloa drug cartel. The army found 890 packets of cash in a house during a routine patrol in Culiacan, in the state of Sinaloa. Military personnel noted that it is the second largest cash seizure in Mexican history. The biggest was in March 2007 when police seized USD 207 million linked to a trafficking ring for pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in methamphetamine.
Mexico Drug Users Up By A Million In Last 6 Years
September 19, 2008
According to figures from the 2008 National Addictions Survey, presented by Health Minister Jose Angel Cordoba Villalobos, the number of drug users between 12 and 65 years of age increased in the last six years in Mexico by a million people and now totals 4.5 million. In addition, the degree of exposure of teens and young adults to these substances rose to 43%. During the said period marijuana consolidated its position as Mexicans' illegal drug of choice, being used by 4.6% of citizens between 12 and 65 years of age, while cocaine moved up strongly from being consumed by 1.3% of Mexicans to 2.5%. The consumption of methamphetamines increased fivefold to 0.5%.
President Calderon Hopeful Of Agreement On New Security Law
September 18, 2008
President Calderon said he hopes to reach agreement with state governors to present to Congress proposed legislation to boost government powers against organized crime. Calderon said the proposal for a General Law on the National Public Security System seeks to increase cooperation between police at federal, state and municipal levels. But according to local media reports, some state governors are concerned the proposal would encroach on the rights of state governments, and hand police powers that should lie with the court system.
Police Shoot 19 Dead In Second Riot In Tijuana, 2 Of Them U.S. Citizens
September 18, 2008
Police shot dead 19 prisoners and wounded 12 in the second riot in three days at a prison in Tijuana, in the state of Baja California, near the U.S. border. The prisoners were shot as police stormed the prison to regain control during the five-hour riot. Some 250 high-risk prisoners, including 200 men and 50 women, had been transferred to prisons elsewhere in the country. At least 2 prisoners died and 20 others were injured in a previous massive 12-hour riot, set off by the death of a prisoner, allegedly at the hands of prison guards. Two U.S. inmates are among the 19 killed in the latest riot.
Navy Finds More Than 3 Tons Of Cocaine, Police Seize Pseudoephedrine
September 21, 2008
Mexico's Navy said it has seized more than 3 metric tons of cocaine aboard a shrimp boat off the Pacific coast of the state of Chiapas. Six detained crew members are under investigation for alleged involvement in organized crime. The cocaine was found in 3,100 packets hidden in a water tank. Meanwhile, the Public Security Ministry (SSP) said that federal agents seized 1.14 tons of pseudoephedrine, used to make methamphetamine, at Mexico City's International Airport.
Police Chase Leaves 14 Wounded, 15 Under Arrest In Mexico
September 21, 2008
A police chase that covered the states of Guanajuato and Jalisco and lasted two hours left 14 people, including 5 officers and 5 civilians, injured and 15 others under arrest. The incident started in San Diego de Alejandria, Jalisco, when suspects in six SUVs engaged police who were trying to capture them in at least three shootouts. The suspects, who apparently belong to drug trafficking organizations, evaded police and later engaged officers in a gunfight in San Francisco del Rincon, Guanajuato. The suspects managed to get away a second time and made it to Leon, the capital of Guanajuato, where they were apprehended.
Prosecutors Say Suspects Not Involved In Massacre Of 24 Workers
September 15, 2008
The Federal Attorney General's Office (PGR) said that the suspects arrested in the southern state of Guerrero in connection with the recent massacre of 24 people in the State of Mexico (Edomex) were not involved in the killings. PGR said in a statement released in Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero, that the 11 suspects arrested in the town of Arcelia were only under investigation on arms and drug charges.
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Sports
Mexican Paralympics Athletes Return Home With 20 Medals
September 21, 2008
Mexican athletes who participated in the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games returned to Mexico and were warmly welcomed by family members and friends at Mexico City's International Airport (AICM). Mexican Paralympic sportsmen won a total of 20 medals in Beijing, namely 10 gold, 3 silver and 7 bronze. President Calderon congratulated all medal winners.
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Arts & Culture
Mexico's Carmen Boullosa Wins Spanish Novel Prize
September 18, 2008
Mexican writer Carmen Boullosa was awarded Spain's Cafe Gijon Novel Prize for "El complot de los romanticos" (Romantics' Plot). The decision of the jury, headed by Spanish writer Rosa Regas, was announced at the emblematic Cafe Gijon artists' cafe in Madrid. The winning author receives a cash prize of EUR 18,000 and earns the right to have his or her work published in Spain by Ediciones Siruela. "El complot de los romanticos" beat out 600 other novels.
Other
President Calderon Leads Traditional Independence Day Ceremony
September 16, 2008
President Calderon led the traditional ceremony marking the 198th anniversary of Mexico's independence, while the main opposition leader and former presidential candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), staged his own celebration two hours earlier. Calderon gave the "Grito," the traditional Independence Day rallying cry, from the balcony of the National Palace to the crowd gathered in Mexico City's main Zocalo plaza. The ritual of the Grito, one of the most important for Mexicans, consists of national, state and municipal officials shouting "viva" for the heroes of the War of Independence and for Mexico. A day later, the army, navy and air force staged the annual military parade.
UNESCO Recognizes Mexico's Efforts For The Conservation Of Biodiversity
September 15, 2008
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO’s) Earth and Ecologic Sciences Division has recognized Mexico's efforts in the conservation of its ecosystems and biodiversity. The organization also praised the creation of the Mexican Biospheres Reserves Network, which strengthens Mexico's 30-year-old leadership in the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable development in Latin America.
Blaze In Quintana Roo Reserve Being Brought Under Control
September 15, 2008
Officials said that a blaze that broke out in southeastern Mexico's Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, in the state of Quintana Roo, could be controlled due to the deployment of additional firefighters. The fire had scorched 4,500 hectares, most of it grassland. Around 100 soldiers were added to the ranks of the firefighters and allowed officials to avoid resorting to cutting roads into the reserve to move in heavy machinery, a move that would have caused extensive environmental damage.
Mexico Holds Earthquake Simulation In Remembrance Of 1985 Temblor
September 19, 2008
Civil Protection authorities said that some four million people participated in an earthquake simulation, which included private and public buildings, offices, schools and hospitals. The annual drill was held in remembrance of the most devastating earthquake in Mexico, which happened on September 19, 1985. The Head of Mexico City's Civil Protection said that this year’s participation was higher than in 2007. The 1985 earthquake had an 8.1 magnitude on the Richter scale, killed more than 10,000 people and destroyed thousands of buildings.
Vatican Says Pope Benedict Is Too Old To Travel To Mexico City
September 19, 2008
A Vatican spokesman said that Pope Benedict will not attend an event in Mexico City next year because the city sits too high above sea level for someone his age. The Pope had been invited to attend the World Family Day in January. But Ennio Cardinal Antonelli of the Pontifical Council for the Family says the 81-year-old Pope would not take part. Mexico City is more than 2,200 meters above sea level.
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