China-Mexico trade forum on this week

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November 5, 2018

Chinese auto maker BAIC is one of the relatively new investors in Mexico.

Over the past eight years the China-Mexico trade forum and show has introduced 1,000 Chinese firms to the Mexican market, according to its organizers who are preparing for another edition of the event this week in Mexico City.

The director of the Zhonghua Business Association in Mexico told the newspaper El Financiero that the goal of the forum is to forge new alliances between business people from both countries, along with expansion into the rest of Latin America.

Chinese firms specializing in furniture, appliances, power generation, illumination, consumer goods, textiles, automobiles, construction and heavy machinery have successfully ventured into the Mexican market through local alliances, said Jenny Wang.

The firms “are not looking for end customers but for strategic alliances that enable them to export to Mexico.”

According to the Bank of México, almost US $54 billion in goods were imported from China during the first eight months of the year, a year-on-year increase of 14.8%.

It was the second largest increase since 2010, when it was a whopping 43.9%.

Events such as the trade forum have brought automotive manufacturers including BAIC and JAC, tech companies like Huawei and Lenovo and transportation companies such as Mobike and Didi to Mexico.

The forum will be hosted by the Expo Santa Fe convention center in Mexico City November 6-8, and will be attended by 200 Chinese investors and entrepreneurs.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

Central American migrants from first caravan arrive in Mexico City

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Tony Richards

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November 5, 2018

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Mexico City welcomes migrants by preparing a shelter in Iztacalco sports stadium. alex harrison-cripps/mexico news daily

The first of the migrants who began entering Mexico from Guatemala in October arrived last night in Mexico City after walking and hitching rides from Córdoba, Veracruz.

An estimated 940 spent the night in a sports stadium in Iztacalco that has been especially prepared for them by city officials. As many as 5,000 are expected by Wednesday.

There has been a steady flow of arrivals since early this morning and another 2,000 left at six o’clock after spending the night in the Córdoba arena.

The migrants are those from the first caravan, which crossed into Mexico October 19 and is made up mostly of Hondurans.

They are being welcomed to the capital by the current city administration and the new one, which takes office next month, as well as the city’s Human Rights Commission, whose chief told a press conference that about 1,500 people will take shelter in the stadium today.

Nashieli Ramírez said the entire caravan will stay in the stadium and is expected to remain for at least a week. She said the city has an obligation to offer humanitarian aid and solidarity to the Central American citizens, who are fleeing violence and poverty and hoping to establish new lives in the United States.

The city is providing food and water and legal and medical aid, Ramírez said.

Teams of doctors, psychologists and paramedics are delivering medical attention while clowns are on hand for emotional support.

The city has also set up 17 centers in the city zócalo and in public areas in the boroughs where migrants can obtain provisions such as clothing and blankets.

A Catholic priest who operates a migrants’ shelter in Oaxaca predicts that 80% of those who have entered Mexico will continue on to the northern border and seek to enter the United States. Alejandro Solalinde believes that 20% will remain permanently in Mexico and look for employment.

Source: El Universal (sp), Reforma (sp)

Torre Reforma awarded as world’s most innovative skyscraper

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MND Staff

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November 5, 2018

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Mexico City’s Torre Reforma — the capital’s tallest building — has been voted the world’s most innovative skyscraper.

The 246-meter-high office building, located on the emblematic Reforma avenue, won the International Highrise Award (IHA), a biannual prize awarded by the city of Frankfurt in association with the German Architecture Museum (DAM) and DekaBank.

The tower’s Mexico City-based architect, Benjamín Romano, received the prize statuette and 50,000 euros (US $57,000) at a ceremony held last week at Frankfurt’s Saint Paul’s Church.

The DAM nominated 36 buildings in 15 countries for the architectural award, considered one of the most prestigious in the world.

The jury, made up of architectural experts, structural engineers and real estate developers, unanimously declared Torre Reforma, or Reforma Tower, the winner.

“This award is especially valuable because it comes from my peers – architects, engineers, developers – who can appreciate not only a building itself, but the inherent financial, structural, environmental and normative challenges,” Romano said.

“I believe that the best architecture is the one that finds the answer to these challenges. The one that emanates from needs, context and reality, and not only from someone’s imagination or aesthetic taste.”

Due to an intelligent design system that allows it to use 25% less energy than other buildings, the Torre Reforma is the only building in Mexico with the highest level certification in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, which was developed by the United States Green Building Council.

In a statement, the IHA jury said “the prevailing problem of earthquakes in Mexico City calls for an intelligent support structure, which lends the 246-meter-high office tower its striking appearance.”

Romano’s design, the statement continued, “places Mexico’s capital on the world map of ground-breaking highrise architecture.”

“Conceived as a huge urban obelisk and defined by two exposed-concrete walls arranged as an open book, Torre Reforma stands out from the surrounding highrises – not just because of its height. With the massive walls, Benjamín Romano takes the Aztec building traditions up and interprets them in a modern way,” the jury said.

“Torre Reforma was the one building that inspired both the structural engineers and the architects in like measure as a masterful demonstration of a new approach to the highrise – and was therefore a worthy winner. It is a building that the entire jury felt did indeed embody the mission that Benjamín Romano set himself: sustainable architecture, architectural structuring, high-tech and artistic integration.”

Dr. Ina Hartwig, deputy mayor in charge of culture of the city of Frankfurt, said that “Torre Reforma stands out on account of its extraordinarily clear, almost sculptural architecture and its triangular footprint.

“The futuristic façade looks out over one of the world’s largest downtown parks [Chapultepec]. Its sensitive, intuitive design is an impressive response to the local topographical challenges,” she added.

Source: Notimex (sp)

Search continues for US citizen missing in Chihuahua

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César Hernández

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November 5, 2018

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The search continues in the Copper Canyon region of Chihuahua for a United States citizen who disappeared over a week ago in Urique.

The state Attorney General’s office said 100 police and other officials, local indigenous residents, drones and police dogs are involved in the search for Patrick Braxton-Andrew of Davidson, North Carolina.

He was last seen October 28 by staff at the Urique hotel in which he was staying when he left for a walk.

“They’re adding people and using more of the indigenous people who live there to search remote areas because they feel they need to expand the search,” said Nancy Slagle, a friend of Braxton-Andrew’s family.

Urique is a former mining town in Copper Canyon National Park, a region that has seen conflicts over illegal logging by drug cartels.

The missing man, aged 34, is described as fluent in Spanish.

A Facebook page has been created to aid in the search.

Source: WFAE (en), Reforma (sp)

Resumption of water service delayed another 36 to 40 hours

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Tony Richards

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November 5, 2018

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Workers are carrying out maintenance on the Cutzamala water system.

Mexico City and México state residents affected by the shutdown of the water system will have to wait longer than expected for their water to start running again.

The National Water Commission said this morning that turning the water back on has been delayed by 36 to 40 hours after one piece of a new water line shifted during installation.

The reason has not been established but a Mexico City water spokesman said the process was complex.

Water service was suspended October 31 to allow for maintenance work on the Cutzamala water system. Officials expected to complete the work by 8:00am Saturday when the water would be turned back on.

But at that point officials said they were 12 hours behind and anticipated a resumption of service Saturday night.

They were unable to say why one of the lines had shifted but an investigation will take place once the problem has been repaired.

Mexico City water system chief Ramón Aguirre advised the public to continue with measures to conserve water. He said reserves were running short.

Water delivery is being provided to affected areas of the city with 1,290 water trucks and 60 locations where they can fill up.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

New offshore oil platform is biggest built in Mexico in 10 years

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MND Staff

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November 3, 2018

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The new platform yesterday in Altamira, Tamaulipas.

The largest offshore oil platform to be built in Mexico in 10 years left the port of Altamira, Tamaulipas, yesterday bound for Campeche Bay.

The US $454-million shallow-water rig, called PB-ABKATUN-A2, was built entirely in Tamaulipas by United States engineering company McDermott for the state oil company Pemex.

At a ceremony to see off the new platform, Tamaulipas Governor Francisco García Cabeza de Vaca said the state was the biggest beneficiary of the energy reforms introduced by the federal government.

“We have the largest gas and oil deposits, the largest shallow-water, deep-water and ultra-deep-water deposits in the Gulf of Mexico and these kinds of projects will continue to take place in Tamaulipas,” he said.

García explained that 40% of a forecast US $2-billion investment in new energy projects will go to the northern border state.

Tamaulipas’ leadership in the petroleum sector, its proximity to the United States oil market, the availability of already-trained specialized labor and growing infrastructure all make the state an attractive place to invest, he said.

“We are blessed by all the natural wealth we have, especially in fossil fuels but the best thing this great state has is its people, working people like you who have made it possible for this platform to go out to sea today,” García told engineers and laborers who worked on the project.

Oil production in Mexico has been in decline for over a decade but the recent discovery of reserves with up to 180 million barrels of crude oil in shallow waters in the Gulf of Mexico are expected to boost output.

President-elect López Obrador has pledged to “rescue” the energy sector and put an end to reliance on oil imports.

Among his plans for oil industry are to build a new oil refinery on the coast of Tabasco and upgrade the six existing ones.

Source: Notimex (sp)

Mexico City water project at least 12 hours behind schedule

By

MND Staff

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November 3, 2018

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One of the sites where water system upgrades are being carried out.

Reopening of Mexico City’s main water system after maintenance work is about 12 hours behind schedule, the National Water Commission (Conagua) said this afternoon.

Water supply has been cut in large parts of the capital and surrounding metropolitan area since October 31.

The water was scheduled to be turned back on at 8:00am today but Conagua said that work to connect lines 1 and 2 of the Cutzamala system had not yet been completed.

Commission director Roberto Ramírez de la Parra said yesterday that there was a possibility that the system’s valves would be opened before the conclusion of the 72-hour period designated for the maintenance work.

But now Conagua says that the work should be completed between 9:00 and 11:00pm tonight.

Around 400 Conagua employees have been working on the maintenance project at three different sites.

Rainy, windy and cold weather have hampered their efforts but last night the project was ahead of schedule.

De la Parra said that rain had heightened the risk of electrocution due to the equipment workers are using but no incidents have been reported.

He added that the work would ensure that the Cutzamala system continues to function for the next 50 years and “it won’t need major maintenance” for the next 10.

Mexico City Mayor José Ramón Amieva said no incidents related to the suspension of the water system had been reported and that the capacity of water tanker trucks to handle the load had not been exceeded as some people had feared.

Around 60% of the 3,000 daily water deliveries the trucks have made during the three-day outage have gone to Iztapalapa, Amieva said.

“We believe that is because of its greater population density and also . . . a lot of homes don’t have water tanks,” the mayor said.

Amieva added that after the supply is turned on it could take up to 72 hours before normal water pressure returns.

With residents returning to work and school after the Day of the Dead holiday, a big test for the Cutzamala system — one of the largest water supply systems in the world — will come in the first hours of Monday.

Source: El Universal (sp), Milenio (sp)

With arrival of 4th caravan, there are now 12,000 migrants in Mexico

By

MND Staff

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November 3, 2018

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Another 4,000 migrants crossed the Suchiate river yesterday. — Migrants cross the Suchiate river yesterday.

With the entry of a fourth migrant caravan yesterday, it is estimated there are now more than 12,000 Central American migrants in Mexico.

About 4,000 Salvadoran migrants crossed the Suchiate river that divides Guatemala from Chiapas, the newspaper El Universal reported.

The migrants rejected an offer of accommodation at a shelter if they entered the country legally, choosing instead to wade across the river in a human chain to avoid being swept away by the current.

When they arrived on the Mexican side of the river, some 100 immigration officials and Federal Police tried to convince the migrants to cross back to Guatemala, warning them that they were breaking the law.

“We only want a clear passage, our intention is not to stay in Mexico but to go to the United States,” the migrants responded.

To avoid a confrontation, the police withdrew and the caravan continued towards the city of Tapachula. The migrants will continue their march through the southern state today.

Three of the caravans currently in Mexico are made up of migrants numbering in the thousands. The majority of them entered Mexico without going through official immigration channels.

Another group of about 450 Salvadorans who entered Mexico legally are also in the country.

The secretariats of the Interior and Foreign Affairs said in a joint statement this week that 2,934 migrants have formally requested asylum in Mexico while 927 people have requested assistance from authorities to return to their country of origin.

The first caravan, made up of mainly Hondurans fleeing poverty and violence who began arriving October 19, yesterday entered Veracruz, walking or hitching rides on passing trucks.

With rumors swirling that members of the second caravan are more violent, along with insecurity concerns in the state, the first caravan hopes to cross Veracruz as quickly as possible.

After the migrants arrived in the south of the Gulf coast state, Governor Miguel Ángel Yunes Linares announced that authorities would not only provide humanitarian aid but also mass transportation to Mexico City.

“It’s very important that they be able to move soon from Veracruz toward another place,” Yunes said in a video message posted to social media.

At a meeting last night, caravan leaders told the migrants that they would be leaving for the capital at around 5:00am. “We are all going!” one coordinator told the group.

But Yunes later released a second video saying that because Mexico City’s water system is undergoing maintenance, leaving much of the city without water, it would not be right to transport the migrants there.

Instead, he offered transportation to another city in Veracruz until the capital’s water supply is restored.

Gina Garibo of the migrant advocacy group Pueblos Sin Fronteras (People Without Borders) described Yunes’ about-face as infuriating and said that authorities in Mexico had already made preparations to receive the migrants in a part of the city where water hasn’t been cut off.

“They have been working for a long time . . . [to prepare] the space where we’re going to arrive. In [the borough] Magdalena Contreras, water supply is guaranteed,” she said.

The newspaper Milenio reported today that no buses had arrived in the municipality of Sayula, where the caravan rested last night, and this morning the migrants set out on foot for Isla, Veracruz.

Although, the number of Central Americans in the first caravan has dropped from a peak of 7,000 to around 4,000, its size could increase as migrants traveling in smaller groups apart from the caravans attempt to catch up.

Tomás González Castillo, director of a migrant shelter in Tenosique, Tabasco, said about 1,500 Central Americans have stayed in the town over the past 10 days.

Some of them indicated that they wish to join the first caravan, he said.

“There are invisible exoduses where maybe there isn’t the same number of people [as the caravans] . . . There are thousands of others walking clandestinely, getting on to trucks, [and] they’re still using the [freight] train,” González said.

He also warned that Veracruz is one of the most dangerous states in the country for migrants.

“They’re going to enter deadly, lethal territory . . . It’s a territory taken over by criminals and corrupt authorities, it’s a hellish route.”

Source: El Universal (sp), Milenio (sp) El Financiero (sp), Associated Press (en)

Peso falls some more but Big Mac Index indicates it is undervalued

By

MND Staff

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November 3, 2018

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The Big Mac is the cornerstone of 'burgernomics.'

The peso fell this week in response to concern about the cancellation of Mexico City’s new airport and a warning from the credit rating agency Fitch that it could downgrade Mexico’s debt rating.

But there ought to be better news for the currency based on “burgernomics.”

According to the Big Mac Index — an indicator created by The Economist newspaper that compares prices of the McDonald’s hamburger as an informal way to measure the purchasing power parity (PPP) between currencies — the peso is undervalued by 44.48 % against the US dollar.

In other words, one US dollar should buy just over 11 pesos, not 20 as is currently the case.

The price of a Big Mac is 50 pesos (US $2.50) in Mexico, less than half the US $5.51 it costs in the United States.

With the exchange rate at around 20.1 pesos to the dollar, the price of the hamburger should be 111 pesos.

On Monday this week, the peso dropped to its lowest level against the US dollar in four months after president-elect López Obrador confirmed that the 285-billion-peso (US $14 billion) airport project will be canceled.

While, the currency regained some ground, it fell by 2% on Wednesday after Fitch issued its warning due to concern about the incoming government’s policies.

All told, the peso lost more than 8% against the US dollar in October, with the slide starting in the second half of the month.

Charles Seville, Fitch’s primary analyst for Mexico, said the decision to scrap the airport, which followed a public consultation on the future of the project, “came as a shock to the markets.”

Alfonso Esparza, an analyst at online forex broker OANDA, said “the airport announcement came at a really bad moment for the peso because it basically clouded big investments and flows in uncertainty, erasing all the good will of the peaceful election in Mexico and the successful renegotiation of NAFTA.”

Two days after López Obrador’s announcement, Fitch revised its rating outlook for Mexico to negative.

“There is the suggestion that other projects could be put to a popular vote, which would introduce more uncertainty,” Seville said, adding that a referendum to repeal the energy reform introduced by the current government is the most worrying possibility.

The negative outlook on Mexico meant that there was a “50-50” chance of a credit rating downgrade over the next two years, he said.

Source: El Economista (sp), Reuters (en)

German automotive firm announces 1.6-billion-peso plant in Aguascalientes

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MND Staff

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November 2, 2018

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The German manufacturer Continental will build a new plant in Aguascalientes. — The German manufacturer Continental plans new investment.

German automotive manufacturing company Continental announced yesterday that it will invest more than 1.6 billion pesos (US $80 million) to build a new plant in Aguascalientes, its 24th in Mexico.

The factory is expected to start operations in 2020.

Carlos Huerta, the company director responsible for the project, told a press conference that the investment is Continental’s biggest ever in Mexico.

“We are pleased to announce the construction of this new Continental plant, here in Aguascalientes. It will generate 1,000 jobs in the first five years. Construction will begin next year and the plant will be dedicated to the manufacture of electrical components,” he said.

The plant will supply smart antennas, control panels and other components to General Motors, Ford and Nissan, mainly for vehicles manufactured in Mexico, although some parts will likely be sent to the United States and Canada.

Huerta added that the 8,000-square-meter plant will be built to the highest environmental standards.

Ned Reckamp, Continental’s vice-president of supply chain management, said the new North American trade agreement, which will push up auto sector wages in Mexico, would not affect operations at the new plant.

“In terms of the new trade agreement, we’re going to leave the politicians and governments to resolve it. We won’t be directly impacted by the new free trade treaty decision with this particular project in Aguascalientes,” he said.

State Governor Martín Orozco Sandoval welcomed the announcement of the new plant, stating that it would provide specialized employment opportunities for young people.

Around 65% of jobs at the new factory will be related to production while 35% will be in administration.

Huerta said the company is looking for highly-educated employees who will receive salaries that “give them a better quality of life.”

Paulo Santos, manager of a Continental plant in Guadalajara, said the new plant is a very significant project for the company.

“The automotive industry is crucial for the development of Aguascalientes . . . In the state, there are more than 100 companies in the sector as well as several research and development centers. Continental is coming to join and enrich this important sector . . . ”

Source: Expansión (sp), Milenio (sp)