Bulletin 505 - Friday, January 28, 2011

Mexico City,- Veracruz Integral Port Administration installed a solar power generation plant to light Isla Sacrificios Lighthouse, which will provide for savings of around 24,000 liters of diesel every year. In a press release, Juan Ignacio Fernandez Carbajal, General Director of Veracruz Integral Port Administration, informed that the Photovoltaic Power Generation Plant will operate with 120 solar panels. He added that this is an effort to use renewable energies obtained from natural sources that may substitute conventional but polluting power sources.

Source: T21

San Luis Potosi, SLP,- Magna International Company announced before President Calderon an investment for over US$100 million in a new automotive stamping plant in San Luis Potosi. President Calderon met with Don J. Walker, one of the executive officers of this company, which is planning to create 700 direct jobs in the plant that will occupy a 41,800 square meters (450,000 SF) surface and will be inaugurated in June 2012. The Plant will produce stamped assemblies and auto parts, because the company designs, develops and manufactures components and systems for automobiles assemblers; its customers include BMW, Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, among others. This will be Magna International's plant number 31 in Mexico, after it first established here 18 years ago; the company has 245 plants all over the world.

Source: El Universal

Mexico City, - Nissan Mexicana is considering increasing its investments in Mexico, forecasted in US$900 million between 2009 and 2013, in order to increase production, which last year reached a historical record of 506,490 units. Jose Muñoz, CEO and President in Mexico, said in a press conference that they are constantly assessing production and growth opportunities and that the US$900 million are a basis to continue considering increasing the amount "because we would like to have more production capacity". During the celebration of Nissan's 50th anniversary in Mexico, he said that after surpassing their vehicles manufacture goal in Mexico for 2010 (500,000 units), the assembler wants now to increase production volume, by manufacturing in Mexico new units and introducing the first completely electrical car, March, which is already being produced in Aguascalientes Plant and which will be sold as of the second quarter of the year. "We are very interested in increasing production, we think that the strategy implemented in the last two years of increasing exports has allowed guaranteeing jobs, it has also provided for costs competitiveness and has made us competitive in the domestic market", he said.

Source: El Universal

Saltillo, Coah,- The opening of new plants in Santa Maria Industrial Park will continue this year because in addition to the recent inauguration of Delphi Centec III plant, Johnson Controls plant will be opened soon, to continue with Nova Steel and Colipus plants, which buildings are about to be finished. Victor Mohamar Abugaber, Chairman, Davisa Group, said that Johnson Controls' new plant will produce mechanism for seats, and though he would not discuss the amount of the investment, he did say that jobs generation in the first stage will be 500 workers, but could reach 1,000 and added that the plant will be ready by the end of February. There are also other buildings soon to be finished, such as Nova Steel, where US$20 million were invested and 100 jobs will be generated, while the other plant is Colipus, where the investment was US$20 million also and will generate 100 more jobs; both companies are in rolled steel industry.

Source: Zocalo

Toluca, Mexico,- Chrysler Mexico announced today they will assemble Fiat Freemont in their assembly plant at Toluca; this vehicle will be sold as of the second half of 2011. The new Fiat Freemont is based on Dodge Journey and represents an important opportunity for Chrysler Mexico to continue producing vehicles with state-of the-art technology, world class technology and recognized quality to be highly competitive in international markets. The announcement of this new project confirms Chrysler's leading position in Mexico's automotive industry and shows its capacity to produce vehicles for international markets, such as Fiat 500 and Fiat Freemont and enhances the company's experience as vehicles distributor, including Fiat models since October 2010.

Source: Vanguardia

Saltillo, Coahuila.- Everything is ready for the official inauguration of Delphi's new plant Centec III in Ramos Arizpe, where US$20 million were invested and which will generate 700 direct Jobs in the first stage, to reach 1,200 at later stages. In August 2010 Delphi announced the definitive closing of their plant located in Anahuac Municipality, Nuevo Leon, which was affected by the floods caused by Alex Hurricane. Even if at the beginning such production was temporarily transferred to plants in Nuevo Laredo, Guadulupe and even Saltillo, it was later announced that the company would open a new plant in Coahuila Southeast Region. The new building was completed last October in Santa Maria Industrial Park and even if the company started personnel recruitment and operations a couple of months ago at this plant, it is next Tuesday when it will be officially inaugurated.

Source: Zocalo

Cd Juarez, Chihuahua,- In spite of the weak US economy and drug trafficking, which has made of Ciudad Juarez the most dangerous city in Mexico, maquiladoras are doing well. These plants, which assemble products for export, from brake pads to plasma TV's produced by American companies, are expanding and hiring more personnel. Furthermore, new plants are being opened, partly because some companies are transferring their operations from China to Mexico to cut down costs. Maquiladoras are also a sign of recovery in the Region's economy, after Gross Domestic Product fell almost 7% in 2009, the worst drop Mexico has had in decades. Comparing Ciudad Juarez to other border cities is difficult, because starting in 2006 the Mexican Government decided to include maquiladoras work in the manufacturing sector. Carlos Pascual, US Ambassador in Mexico, said that last year 12 maquiladoras were transferred from China to Mexico and installed throughout the border, oftentimes in areas shaken by drug dealing violence, such as Baja California, Tamaulipas and Chihuahua, where Ciudad Juarez is located. It is not clear if in such term any plants were transferred from Mexico to China. Throughout Mexico, maquiladoras sector has laid off hundreds of thousands of people since October 2000, when the labor force reached 1.3 million people. But Mexico is a strong competition for China now. US imports of products manufactured in Mexico amounted to US$168 billion in the first 11 months of last year, a 35% year-to-year increase, according to the US International Trade Commission.

Source: Miscellaneous