MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – U.S. construction company Vulcan Materials (NYSE:) on Monday rejected what it considers an “illegal expropriation” of its investments in Mexico and said it remained open to a negotiated solution with the Mexican government.
The company has been embroiled in a years-long dispute with the Mexican government after officials ordered a halt to limestone mining at the Vulcan mining operation in the coastal state of Quintana Roo in 2022, alleging the company was harming the environment but denying the allegations.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said last week that the site had not been expropriated, only closed, and that it would remain closed at least until he leaves office in October.
In a statement Monday, Vulcan called the suspension of its operations “authoritarian” and said it could not produce or sell materials “due to the arbitrary actions of the Mexican government to force us to abandon our important investments in the region.”
López Obrador last year outlined plans to offer 6.5 billion Mexican pesos ($391 million) to buy the land on which Vulcan Materials operates and resolve the dispute, but said the company did not want to sell the land.
“The truth is that we never received a ‘generous offer’ to purchase our property,” Vulcan said Monday.
“We have been given an unofficial estimate, without signatures or details, that significantly understates the value of our assets, including the limestone reserves we hold under Mexican law, as well as the only deep-draft port in the region.”
($1 = 16.6440 Mexican pesos)