Efficiency, Discipline Set the Stage for Growth

Q: Last year, you mentioned that 2025 pushed TREBOTTI to prioritize financial stability and operations over the speed of innovation projects. How has that balance changed throughout 2026? 

A: In 2026, TREBOTTI has kept financial stability and operational efficiency at the center of its strategy, without pausing its internal innovation agenda. The company has faced a clear slowdown in new project awards compared to previous years, largely driven by uncertainty around the USMCA review and a more cautious investment climate across the private sector. Even with fewer projects, TREBOTTI has maintained a healthy backlog by diversifying across industries. When export-driven sectors slow down, other industries tied to Mexico's domestic demand and demographic growth continue to generate opportunities.

At the same time, the company has strengthened its internal technology strategy. TREBOTTI is developing more software in-house for the companies across Grupo ITTOB and increasingly embedding AI into its operational, financial, and administrative processes. Cybersecurity, tighter regulation, and more demanding compliance requirements have also elevated IT and technology to a more strategic role within the company.

2026 has been a challenging year, but TREBOTTI has used a slower market to emerge leaner, more automated, and more digitally mature.

Q: In the previous interview, you described technology investment as TREBOTTI’s most strategic move. What tangible results have you seen so far from building your in-house software development team? 

A: We are moving in the right direction. Technology is one of those areas where, if you do not move early, you fall behind. What stands out most is how fast the organization has integrated and adopted these tools, especially AI. External consultants have told us that TREBOTTI is adopting AI ahead of most companies in our sector.

The most tangible result so far has been efficiency. Our AI and in-house software development efforts are already streamlining key processes and laying the foundation for a more digital, automated, and competitive organization.

Q: How have certifications such as ISO, LEED, and EDGE, changed the way TREBOTTI designs, builds, and manages projects. How do they help the company deliver more value to institutional clients?

A: Certifications have raised the bar for how we operate. They make our operation more robust by holding us to stricter rules, processes, and controls. That discipline carries a cost, which is why we focus on clients who value building to higher standards.

For us, certifications have been key to positioning TREBOTTI with what we call triple-A clients: institutional companies, both Mexican and international, that demand the highest levels of quality, compliance, ethics, and sustainability. These certifications let us operate at their level and bring that same standard into every project we deliver for them.

We are fully convinced of their value. Across the group's companies we hold multiple ISO certifications, and TREBOTTI recently earned ISO 37001 for anti-bribery, ethics, and compliance. On sustainability, we are members of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and have wide experience designing, building, and certifying LEED projects, as well as projects under EDGE, the green building certification created by the World Bank. At TEMSA, our structural steel plant, we hold certifications specific to structural steel that translate directly into value for the clients who hire us.

Q: How ready is the Mexican market to pay for higher construction and sustainability certifications, and what still needs to change for these standards to become more widely adopted?

A: The market is willing to pay, but selectively. Triple-A clients, multinationals and large institutional companies, already understand the value of building to higher standards and budget for it. The broader market is more price-sensitive, and that gap has widened with the current slowdown in investment, which has made clients tighter and more cautious.

The real challenge is not unwillingness to pay. It is that the market offers many options at very different price points, so for a company like ours the key is striking the right balance: holding high standards while staying commercially competitive.

For sustainability certifications to become widely adopted, two things need to change. First, the demand has to keep coming from the top. As more multinational and institutional clients require LEED, EDGE, and certified construction, the rest of the market follows. Second, clients need to see certification as an investment, not a cost, because the real return shows up over the life of the building through energy efficiency, operating savings, and access to better financing and ESG positioning. When that happens, certifications stop being a differentiator and become a baseline expectation.

Q: Which regions in Mexico are showing the strongest demand for industrial construction, and which regions are slowing down? 

A: The Bajío and Jalisco are among the regions showing the strongest demand right now. Both markets continue to perform well and remain attractive for industrial construction, with Guadalajara as one of the most dynamic.

In the north, the market is more moderate. Some cities that grew very fast after the pandemic are now facing tougher conditions, which has slowed the pace of new projects. Ciudad Juárez is a clear example: the demand is there, but infrastructure constraints, especially limited power availability, are capping the number and scale of projects that can move forward.

The same caution shows up in speculative inventory. In La Laguna, absorption has been slow. There is still more supply than demand, so available space is taking longer to fill.

Overall, while some regions remain very active, we are seeing a slower market across the country.

Q: As the market slows down, which industries are generating the strongest opportunities for TREBOTTI?

A: We are seeing demand across several industries: general manufacturing, automotive, food and beverage, agroindustry, and electronics, much of it export-driven.

Demand is more mixed than in previous years, and that diversity has become one of our main strengths. TREBOTTI is competitive across very different industrial sectors, which lets us keep generating work even when one specific market slows down. Our experience across many types of industries gives us the flexibility to adapt and pursue opportunities wherever demand stays active.

Q: How does TREBOTTI ensure adaptability and customization when working across such diverse industries and project types?

A: Our main advantage is experience. TREBOTTI has more than 45 years in the market and has delivered over 500 construction projects across different industries. That depth, combined with engineering and execution teams that have been with us for years, lets us understand the specific needs of each sector and build to them.

Across the projects we are building today, no sector is new to us. That experience gives us the flexibility to customize solutions while keeping full control of quality and delivery.

Q: Has demand for modular and prefabricated construction recovered in 2026, and how does TREBOTTI see this segment evolving?

A: Demand for modular and prefabricated construction has not taken off the way some expected. In Mexico, traditional construction is still more cost-competitive, so the market has not yet reached the scale where modular can grow quickly.

For TREBOTTI, modular remains a clear part of our long-term plan. We are actively developing the model: running the numbers, refining the concept, and investing step by step, even though we are not yet selling or billing modular work. We continue to believe in it, and we are preparing now so we are ready to move the moment the economics tip in its favor. We see it as a long-term opportunity, not an immediate market shift.

Q: What types of construction projects are driving the most demand for TREBOTTI?

A: Most of our work is industrial buildings. The strongest demand is for greenfield plants, expansions and upgrades to existing facilities, and distribution and logistics centers, along with some vertical and commercial developments. These projects run across food and beverage, paper, automotive, general manufacturing, and agroindustry, so demand stays spread across sectors rather than tied to a single one.

Q: How are tariffs on steel, aluminum, or other construction inputs affecting budgets, procurement strategies, and contract negotiations in 2026? 

A: Construction costs have risen significantly. Official figures may not fully reflect it, but in practice input prices have climbed sharply over the past two years and have not stabilized. Steel came down at one point, but it is rising again. That directly affects project budgets, procurement decisions, and the way contracts are negotiated, because costs are harder to predict.

Tariffs have also hit us directly. One of our companies manufactures steel structures and used to export heavily to the United States. The tariff environment has cut those exports sharply, so we have shifted that capacity toward the domestic market.

Q: How is the industrial construction sector expected to evolve over the next year, especially with the uncertainty around the USMCA review?

A: It is hard to predict exactly how things will unfold, but the USMCA review is unlikely to be fully resolved in the short term. That keeps a layer of uncertainty over Mexico and, for now, gives the United States an edge in attracting new investment. We are already seeing some projects that would previously have come to Mexico move north instead.

This is not only about the USMCA. It also reflects internal challenges Mexico needs to address: legal certainty, energy availability and cost, and a regulatory environment that has become more demanding for private investment. Automation adds to the picture. As plants become more robotic, Mexico's traditional labor-cost advantage weighs less, so when a company can build a highly automated plant in the United States with strong legal certainty and reliable energy, Mexico has to compete on more than cost.

That said, Mexico still holds real advantages, and the opportunity is far from over. Its location, manufacturing base, and integration with North America remain strong. If the country makes the structural adjustments that give investors more certainty, improve energy supply, and let projects move faster, it can stay highly competitive.

The next few years will be demanding, and the outcome depends as much on Mexico as on decisions made abroad. At TREBOTTI, we are positioned to keep building wherever demand stays active, and we are confident Mexico will remain a key destination for industrial investment.

Q: How have TREBOTTI’s goals for 2026 evolved, and what are the company’s main priorities for the second half of the year?

A: From the start of the year, our 2026 plan has been about consolidation, not aggressive growth. Rather than expanding, we have worked inward: strengthening operations, tightening discipline, advancing certifications, and developing our own software.

The priority for the second half of the year is to keep preparing the company for the next growth cycle. We still believe a new wave of nearshoring is coming, even if it depends on Mexico improving conditions such as energy and legal certainty for it to scale at a larger level.

Even with some economic indicators below par, the market remains stable. There are regions and activities that keep growing, and not all of our work depends on overall economic growth. Demographic expansion and other structural needs continue to generate demand, which keeps us active and, just as important, leaves TREBOTTI stronger and ready to move when the next cycle arrives.

TREBOTTI is a Mexican industrial general contractor with more than 45 years in the market and over 500 projects delivered. The company specializes in the design and build of greenfield plants, brownfield work, and expansions for multinational and institutional clients, supported by in-house engineering, BIM, and lean construction. As part of Grupo ITTOB, it integrates structural steel, crane, and logistics capabilities for full turnkey delivery.