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Kenton SchaeferFor Audaxia Logística
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Welcome to OJO. This month sees Mexico in a situation similar to the rest of the world. In economic news, we see supply chain issues continue to affect the manufacturing sectors, inflation is affecting purchasing, logistics is complicated, and the war in Ukraine tears onward. Consumer Price Inflation in Mexico rose 7.45% in the year through March, significantly higher than the estimated 3% forecasted by Mexico’s Central Bank. The President has signaled the economy will grow 5% for 2022 while the government indicates it will be around 3%. That said however, many international experts predict it will be closer to 1%. When asked about the President’s recent legislative changes and nationalization efforts to energy and related industries, Ternium CFO Pablo Brizzio said he didn’t expect much investment in Mexico from companies like Ternium and others until the legal framework was clarified. Thankfully though, we are still seeing progress. Nissan, BMW, DeAcero, the Netherlands, and more are looking to Mexico as the opportunities continue to present themselves. In cultural news, we’re happy to present an exclusive interview with Mr. Pablo Dompé from Buenos Aires, Argentina. His work with steel is unique - sensual while also sharp. And finally, in another Mexican milestone in space, Katya Echazarreta will be the first Mexican-born woman to reach space aboard Blue Origin’s next West Texas launch. The last few months have seen Mexico make significant developments in space exploration, and this is certainly one for the stars. Bienvenidos a OJO.
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Kenton Schaefer
Schaefer Stevedoring
For Audaxia Logística
A Schaefer Americas company
Email me directly.
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Mexico Nationalizes Lithium Mining
Mexico has officially nationalized its lithium industry. The Mexican Senate passed a bill to nationalize lithium mining and extraction. The bill was submitted by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who is expected to sign it into law.
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Nissan Says it Will Invest More Than $700 Million in Mexico
Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co. said on Wednesday it will invest more than $700 million in Mexico during the next three years to boost its operations in the country.
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BMW May Move X3 Production to Mexico, Easing Pressure on X-Model US Factories
BMW is exploring plans to build the BMW X3 at its San Luis Potosi plant in Mexico, a production forecaster familiar with the matter said. The move will provide “elbow room” at the fully operating Spartanburg US plant to meet customer demand for the entire SUV lineup. Mexico will play an important role in our overall plan (said BMW Group CEO Zipzer). Because the market demand is very high, so at some point, you’re going to see the Model X (at the Mexican factory). That’s what I can reveal at the moment.”
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Mexico Inflation at 21-Year High, Central Bank Seen Hiking Rates Again
Mexican headline inflation and the closely watched core index rose in April to their highest levels since January 2001, official data showed on Monday, data likely to prompt the central bank to hike its key interest rate again this week.
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DeAcero Invests 16 Million USD in Bajío Region Distribution Microcenter
DeAcero inaugurated its new Villagrán, Guanajuato distribution microcenter which represents an estimated 16 Million USD investment for the Mexican steel group. The center is 35,000 M2 and has a capacity to distribute 1,500 MT/day of finished product while storing 12,000MT.
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The Netherlands is Interested in Investing in Mexico
According to a press release from the local Mexican government, Dutch Ambassador to Mexico shared that businessmen settled in the State of Queretaro, Mexico feel comfortable with the investment climate, as well as the strategic location of the state.
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Ternium Eyes $600 Million Capex This Year
Mexico’s government forecast economic growth of 3.4% for 2022, far below what the nation’s President was aiming for, a finance ministry document showed on Friday, as Latin America’s second-largest economy claws back losses from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Sempra CEO Discusses Company’s Natural Gas Pipelines to Mexico
With 66% of all gas and oil imports into Mexico flowing across Sempra’s network, CEO Jeff Martins briefly discusses their continued investment in the country.
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Blue Origin to Send First Mexican-Born Woman to Space on its Next West Texas Launch
Blue Origin unveiled the next six passengers it will send to space, including electrical engineer and former NASA test lead Katya Echazarreta who will become the first Mexican-born woman to reach space.
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GM agrees 8.5% raise with Mexico union in test of new trade deal
U.S. automaker General Motors has agreed a 8.5% wage hike with a new, independent union at its pick-up truck plant in the central Mexican city of Silao, labor representatives said on Thursday, one of the highest recent raises in the country's auto industry.
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US Imports for Consumption of Monitored Steel
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January '22/YTD |
January '21/YTD |
| Country |
Quantity in MT* |
Variation* |
| Canada |
526,948 |
+0.22% |
| Mexico |
380,681 |
+52.40% |
| Brazil |
301,009 |
+106.61% |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
* Metric tons
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HRC Spot Price Mexico
| Price * |
% Monthly |
% YTD |
| 1,380 ** |
-1.43% |
-3.83% |
Source: Reporte Acero
* As of May 12th 2022
** U.S. dollars per metric ton
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Exchange Rate: Mexican Peso
30 Day Average & Volatility
| Currency |
30 Day
Average |
30 Day
Volatility |
| 🇺🇸 1 USD |
20.18 MXN |
0.55% |
| 🇪🇺 1 EUR |
21.51 MXN |
0.62% |
| 🇨🇳 1 CNY |
3.08 MXN |
0.59% |
| 🇯🇵 1 JPY |
0.15 MXN |
0.61% |
| 🇬🇧 1 GBP |
25.59 MXN |
0.62% |
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Artist Interview // Pablo Dompé - Buenos Aires, Argentina
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In this months edition of Steel in Art & Culture, we present our exclusive interview with Mr. Pablo Dompé from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Born in 1976, Mr. Dompé has worked with many materials, including steel and other metals since he was a young boy spending time in his father’s workshop. He has exhibited in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, and Switzerland, to name a few. And we find his work to be organic, interesting, and possessing a strong influence of the natural world. Our interviews will be presented in both English and Spanish, and can be found below. We hope you enjoy these conversations in steel, art, and culture.
Mr. Pablo Dompé,
What do you most enjoy about working with materials such as steel and other metals?
With steel, the way I work, I enjoy most that it is a reverse process that I apply to materials such as stone, wood or books. It’s through addition, creating form and volume by welding the artwork pieces until I obtain the desired shape; and then do the finishing, painting, or varnishing, etc. On the other hand, I love stone, which means working by subtraction. I start working in a block that I grind down until obtaining the desired shape. I have found many ways for achieving textures and effects that I enjoy a lot while doing them...
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Seagram Building, New York City
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If a building could represent a company’s strength, style, and innovation, we would wish the Seagram Building in New York City to represent Audaxia Logística. It is a marvel of modernist architecture, and a quintessential masterpiece of international style. Completed in 1958, and located at 375 Park Avenue in Manhattan, this magnificent structure is composed of steel, bronze, glass, travertine, and marble. Created by master architects Mies van der Rohe and Phillip Johnson, the Seagram Building is heralded as an ultimate combination of functionalist aesthetics and corporate elegance. “Less is more”, Mies van der Rohe most often said of his sense of style. Considered one of the founders of the International Style of architecture, Mr. Van der Rohe immigrated to the United States from Germany where he was once Director of the world-renowned art school, Bauhaus. He did not like senseless ornamentation of any kind and preferred simplicity and efficiency with new materials and methods. The building was built as the Headquarters of the Seagram Company, and held many of the worlds most important businesses with the most exclusive address in corporate America. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006, the building is dignified, sophisticated, and consummately elegant. This stalwart of Western architecture was built using approximately 12,000 metric tons of Bethlehem steel which consist of a steel frame and structural system made up of steel columns. It is simple, efficient, and beautiful.
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La Ópera Bar, Mexico City
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According to legend, in 1914, Pancho Villa shot into the ceiling of this popular establishment in an attempt to get a group of rowdy drunk men to settle down (the bartenders will still show you the bullet hole). Villa, who never drank alcohol, seemed to have little patience for drunkenness. Since opening its doors in 1876, the Who’s Who of Mexican society and politics have had some exposure to it. Porfirio Diaz, Carlos Fuentes, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Octavio Paz all dined and drank there. Bullets, pens, and politics have long had there place within those walls. The experience today is like stepping back in time into late 1800’s Mexico, and if you find yourself near the Historical Center in Mexico City while on business or pleasure, this is an experience worth having.
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This Month in Mexican History
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Lázaro Cárdenas, May 1895
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With Mexico making so much news in the world today because of efforts to nationalize several key industries (Lithium being the latest set to potentially fall into government control), we thought it timely to highlight the Mexican President which made one of the most significant industry nationalizations in modern Mexican history. It was Lázaro Cárdenas who was responsible for creating Pemex (Petróleos Mexicanos), by nationalizing the petroleum and energy industries in 1938, and for creating the CFE (Comisión Federal de Electricidad) in that same year. Cárdenas was born on May 21st, 1895, and accomplished a great deal by his mid-twenties. He joined the ‘Zapatistas’ (a group which emerged from Emiliano Zapata’s land reform and redistribution efforts) in the south, fought with Pancho Villa in the north, and became an Army Brigadier General at age 25 during the Mexican Revolution. He pushed onwards to become Governor of the State of Michoacan in 1928, and then president from 1934 to 1940. Certainly influenced by his early work with the ‘Zapatistas’, Cárdenas had a great deal to do with the redistribution of large land estates, and for breaking them down into ‘ejidos’ which are smaller land parcels owned by poor farming communities. He was known for traveling without his bodyguards, and refused to use the Presidential Palace called ‘Castillo de Chapultepec’ (today the Natural History museum), making him the first President to reside at the subsequent presidential residence called ‘Los Pinos’. President Lázaro Cárdenas had an enormous impact on Mexico during his lifetime, and his influence is profound even today. Much like Cárdenas, todays President Lopez Obrador looks to nationalize important industries, refuses to travel in luxury, and has also refused to use the current presidential residence ‘Los Pinos’, (instead opening it up to the public as a museum). It was this month in 1895 that President Lázaro Cárdenas was born, and his legacy today is strongly felt.
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