LatinNews Daily - 29 July 2026

*Mexico’s government led by President Claudia Sheinbaum has said it is reviewing legal options after a World Bank (WB) arbitration tribunal issued a ruling on 27 July largely in its favour in a long-running dispute with US construction firm Vulcan Materials Company. According to Mexico’s economy ministry (SE), the dispute is over claims that, between January 2018 and 2022, various Mexican federal and state authorities adopted measures that affected the operation of Vulcan’s projects in Mexico, carried out through its subsidiary Calizas Industriales del Carmen, S.A. de C.V. (Calica). It noted that the tribunal at the WB’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (Icsid) dismissed nearly all claims brought by Vulcan Legacy LLC, a Vulcan subsidiary, under the former North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), upholding only one relating to the January 2018 closure of a Calica site under then-president Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018). “They were asking for around US$1.7bn, and in the end the tribunal set around US$150m,” President Sheinbaum said at a press conference. The figure was not disclosed in official statements by either Vulcan nor the SE, both describing the award only as “negligible” or under 1% of the original claim. Sheinbaum said Mexico is “analysing the tribunal's decision in detail” to determine its legal options. She said dialogue with Vulcan would continue regardless of the outcome: “They have to repair the environmental damage. They have to carry out their remediation process even though the mine is closed.” She added that the ruling does not affect Vulcan’s land ownership or its port concession in Quintana Roo, which remains valid for several more years.

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