AMLO calls for consultation on fertilizer plant

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO) has called for community consultation on the building of a US$5bn fertilizer plant in Sinaloa state, marking the latest in a series of roadblocks for private sector projects.

Gas y Petroquímica de Occidente, a subsidiary of Germany’s Proman group, plans initial investment of US$1.2bn for an ammonium fertilizer plant that would have capacity of 770,000t/y of anhydrous ammonia. 

The plant is supported by local authorities, according to daily Reforma. Mexico is a net importer of the petrochemical, the paper said, and the fertilizer would be destined for Sinaloa, Sonora and Chihuahua states.  

However, on Thursday AMLO said the plant should go ahead “only through a consultation, and it’s going to be difficult because there are protests, there are groups that don’t accept it.”

AMLO first expressed misgivings about the plant in June 2019, citing protests and opposition by the local Los Mochis indigenous community. 

In the past, AMLO has ordered such consultations to stymie private sector projects, including a national consultation on a then under-construction airport for Mexico City in 2018. 

In March, AMLO backed a local consultation that halted the construction of a Constellation Brands brewery in Mexicali, after the company spent about US$400mn on the facility. 

Should the ammonium plant stick to its original 2019 schedule, it would begin operations in 1H22. 

Further announcements on other energy projects could be on the way. 

On Friday, AMLO is expected to visit members of the Yaqui native community in Sonora state. Since 2017, sustained opposition from one part of the Yaqui community – seven others reportedly support the project – has stalled completion of IEnova’s 331km Guaymas-El Oro natural gas pipeline.