No one can accuse López Obrador of having good business sense. He never had a business, never suffered the anguish of paying a payroll or covering Social Security contributions. However, he seems more interested in venturing into business than in fulfilling his responsibilities as president. A new and regrettable example is the purchase, for 1,500 million pesos, of the 49 percent that the government did not have. Salt Exporter, SA de CV (ESSA). The acquisition makes no business or national security sense. The company produces salt for chloralkali industry and most is exported to Japan, country of its until now partner, Mitsubishi. The government already controls 51 percent, which gives it decision-making power. There is no risk that there will be a global crisis in the market that will leave us without salt.
ESSA was founded in 1954 by American shipowner Daniel K. Ludwig. Mitsubishi bought a share in the 1960s and acquired control in 1973. The Mexican government took 51 percent in 1976, with Luis Echeverría, who maintained the partnership with Mitsubishi to facilitate sales to Japan. Although in 2020, due to the pandemic, there was a collapse in the market, in 2022, the last full year reported, ESSA had sales of 3,475.9 million pesos with a positive result of 380.6 million pesos.
The only reason it would make sense to buy 49 percent of the company would be to modernize and reposition it in the international market at a time when China has become the world's largest salt producer, but the government is the worst owner. for this work. The company needs strong investments in its port to better supply its customers. The government, however, has no capital available. Worse, the one you are using for the purchase is from Mining Trustwhich was created to help mining towns and not to bet on a dubious business adventure.
Lopez Obrador It is spending 1,500 million pesos for a reason that is no longer even political, but personal. She wants to go down in history as a new president company nationalizer, like Lázaro Cárdenas, Adolfo López Mateos or José López Portillo. The purchase, however, is not a “nationalization,” because the company is already Mexican and the government has control. His announcement did not have a single business argument. He said: “It was achieved that we now have the power of the nation, that this company, which was saved in the neoliberal era, is public. Now we want to keep this heritage of all Mexicans safe so that there is no risk because privatization has not helped Mexico. Privatization is synonymous with corruption, that is what neoliberal policy meant for a long time.”
A lot of ideology, no business plan. The investment does not provide new productive capacity or corporate advantages. It does not create value. It doesn't even give control to the government, like it did with the Deer Park refinery, because it already had it.
The Secretary of Economy Raquel Buenrostro declared: “With the nationalization of ESSA The president's precept is fulfilled that the benefits generated with our natural resources remain in our country and are used for the well-being of Mexico.” He doesn't understand that this is a divestment, that a Japanese company is taking productive money out of Mexico. The government, instead of using the resources it has for education, public health or security, is tying up capital. Neither she nor the president understand what an investment is for.
amazon
amazon announced yesterday a 5 billion dollar project to build data centers in Querétaro, an amount greater than that of tesla. Our country remains attractive for investment, despite the government's ravings. Yesterday the divestment of 6.2 billion dollars from Iberdrola plants was also confirmed. Nor how to help us!
“The surest way for a poor nation to remain poor is to harass, hinder, or limit private enterprise.”
Henry Hazlitt
- Fintech, hotbed of new companies
- Extortion, from madness to crime
- The President lost the narrative
- Preaching politicians who lie about the facts
#39Nationalize39 #salt
