Bulletin 449 - Friday, December 4, 2009

Monterrey, Mexico,- Ternium Mexico invested close to US$40 million in the construction of a new logistics center in Monterrey, which consists of four industrial buildings for storage, loading and shipment, which all together add to 21 thousand square meters (around 226 thousand square feet). Julian Eguren, President, said that the project was conceived 16 months ago when the world was undergoing one of the worst crises ever. "We analyzed the context, the crisis and its possible effects and thought that with this crisis Mexico has an opportunity and we have an opportunity. We believe this crisis is going to cause production mobilization from other places in the world to more competitive places and we believe we have a great opportunity there". Mr. Eguren pointed-out that with these new facilities the time trucks have to wait to be loaded, weighted and documented will be cut down by 60%. He further added that the investment will generate 80 new jobs and value in service for their customers.

Source: Milenio

Zacatecas, Mexico,- Zacatecas State Employment Agency, Servicio Estatal de Empleo (SEE), informed this State is third in Mexico in jobs generation during 2009. The Agency said that 17 thousand 627 people have been benefited in the State's 58 municipalities by programs meant to help them find a job, and by self-employment programs. The investment made by federal and state governments amounted to MEP$18.581 billion for jobs generation. The Ministry of Labor acknowledged the State of Zacatecas' achievement and pointed out that 65.8% of the jobs generated were for women. In 2007 Zacatecas was eleventh in jobs generation and in 2008 it ranked eighth, while this year Zacatecas was under Oaxaca and Sinaloa and above Jalisco, Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosi, Yucatan, Veracruz, Michoacan and Tabasco.

Source: Notimex

Tijuana-Mexicali Baja California,- In order to offer more and better services to their customers in Mexicali, Pacific Metals has made an Alliance with "Arizona Metals" to start a new operation in Mexicali, a subsidiary of their branch here. In an interview Alberto Pineda, General Manager, informed that a year after starting the project Arizona Metals finally started operating in November, in their premises located in Robledo Industrial Ave., across the street from Thompson, on a one thousand square meters surface, including warehouse areas. He informed that due to market demands, they had to create a site to serve customers in Mexicali, and better meet their needs, because previously they had to wait for the product to arrive. The company's offices in Mexicali will work with the same operations system, with material and tools in stock to properly and promptly fulfill urgent orders; they will also be ready to adapt to different product requirements. In addition, with this opening Arizona Metals will have the capacity to serve San Luis Rio Colorado market, generating jobs. "As a company, we work for the State's growth and development, always offering the best price, service and quality that satisfy our customers' needs", Mr. Pineda said. The company's main customers are in several business lines, such as maquiladora¸metal-mechanics, automotive, industrial maintenance workshops, companies devoted to stamping, crimping, injection molds and machining in general. "It is to be pointed out that we recently started supplying cutting tools and early next year we will include plastics engineering", he said.

Source: Siglo 21

Mexicali, Baja California,- CareFusion installed three 1000 KW energy auto-generators in their Mexicali Plant, which have the capacity to support up to 90% of the Plant's total operation in peak hours, which is when energy is more expensive. "As we know, electric power prices are very high, and maquiladora industry is always looking for ways to cut down operation costs, which at the end of the day translate into being a little more competitive. Therefore at CareFusion we have undertaken the task to see how this can be done, and we recently finished this project which is of great importance to our company", Ruben Villalpando, Maintenance Manager, said. "We have invested US$1.5 million in addition to using new technologies to implement such projects, of which we are already receiving the benefits", Mr. Villalpando further said.

Source: Siglo 21

Chihuahua, Cd Juarez,-With an investment over US$10 million and the generation of 40 jobs for technicians, a plant of the French company Manoir Aerospace will be inaugurated in Chihuahua City, which will manufacture parts for turbines and for aircraft braking systems. "Chihuahua City will host Manoir Industries' first plant in Mexico, which is a very important achievement for the Company, because this is expected to increase the Company's competitiveness by shipping products directly from Chihuahua to its customers in the US, which they previously did from France", the State Ministry of Industrial Development informed. The information further points out that this plant will perform machining, surface treatment and quality control processes. The Ministry of Industrial Development said that this plant is being established in Chihuahua thanks to the incentives granted to this French company by State and Municipal Governments, which firmly supported the investment project, in addition to competitiveness conditions offered by the State of Chihuahua.

Source: El Diario

Mexico City,- Before the year is over, Canadian companies such as Valiant Tool & Mold, ABM Tool Anchor Danly, ODC Tooling, Fostet Manufacturing, Nova Tool & Mold, Mega Mold International, FBT, L&H Diversified Manufacturing and Armo Tool Limited could establish in Mexico to join automotive industry's chain of supply. Last week, representatives from 21 companies from Ontario, Canada, visited Coahuila, Puebla and Aguascalientes to assess labor conditions they would find in case they establish in any of these states. Most of these companies are devoted to the manufacture of stamping molds and plastics injection, but there are also some specialized in electronic and mechatronics components. Their purpose is becoming suppliers for Chrysler, General Motors, Volkswagen and Nissan, which are all requiring a larger number of suppliers and specialists in plastics, because world trend in vehicles manufacture is substituting steel and aluminum for plastic.

Source: El Mural

Mexico,- In order to foster Mexico-France business relations, ProMexico invited the French community to increase their investment in Mexico and strengthen trade links between both countries. During Mexico-France Business Encounter, ProMexico met with French companies to show them the advantages Mexico provides to trade and investment and to create more alliances. Jorge Lopez, Head of International Business and Investment Promotion Office in ProMexico, said that in spite of the world crisis, ProMexico has a portfolio of more than 800 projects, with investments for over US$50 billion, which should generate 85 thousand jobs in the next few years.

Source: Notimex