The Arbitration Tribunal of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) dismissed almost all of the claims that Vulcan had maintained against Mexico since 2018 under NAFTA, granting only compensation that the company itself described as insignificant.
The ruling, issued this Monday, only recognized one measure as a violation: the closure of a property belonging to Calizas Industriales del Carmen (CALICA), Vulcan’s subsidiary in Mexico, which occurred in January 2018. According to a statement from the Ministry of Economy (SE), this measure represents less than 1% of the amount originally demanded by the company.
The dispute began because Vulcan claimed that, between 2018 and 2022, various federal and state authorities adopted measures that affected the operation of its aggregate extraction projects in Mexico.
“The Government of Mexico is analyzing the Arbitration Tribunal’s decision in detail to determine the legal actions available to it,” the SE stated, while reaffirming its commitment to foreign investment and compliance with international treaty rules as the foundation of legal certainty for economic development.
Vulcan, the largest producer of construction aggregates in the United States, confirmed in a statement to its investors that the Tribunal determined Mexico violated NAFTA “in several aspects” due to the failure to comply with an agreement intended to unlock part of its aggregate reserves in the country and because of the closure of its extraction operations.
The company clarified that the full text of the decision will remain confidential until it is officially published.
Vulcan will proceed as planned with its second-quarter earnings conference call this Wednesday, July 29, at 9:00 a.m. Mexico City time.
Source: jornada
