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Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) said it rejects the “illegal expropriation” of its investments in Mexico but remains open to a negotiated solution with the Mexican government, Reuters reported Monday.
The government ordered a halt to limestone quarrying at the company’s mining unit in Quintana Roo in 2022, alleging environmental damages.
Mexican President Lopez 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.
Lopez Obrador said last year the government laid out plans to offer 6.5B pesos (~$391M) to buy the land where Vulcan (VMC) operates, but that the company did not want to sell the land.
“The truth is that at no time have we received a ‘generous offer’ to buy our property,” Vulcan (VMC) said Monday. “We were given an informal appraisal, without signatures and without details, that substantially undervalues our assets, including the limestone reserves of which we own under Mexican law, as well as the only deep draft port in the region.”