PEMEX to Invest MX$15 Billion in Fertilizer Plants
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PEMEX to Invest MX$15 Billion in Fertilizer Plants

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Antonio Gozain By Antonio Gozain | Senior Journalist and Industry Analyst - Wed, 01/04/2023 - 15:30

State-owned company PEMEX will invest about MX$15 billion (US$750 million) to revamp Mexico’s fertilizer production plants to support small farmers. 

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s administration seeks for Mexico to become self-sufficient in fertilizer production. “By 2024, [PEMEX] will produce 84 percent of the fertilizers and by the end of the current administration, we will be at 100 percent coverage for the small farmers program,” said Octavio Romero Oropeza, Director, PEMEX.

With this investment, PEMEX-owned companies Pro-Agroindustria and Grupo Fertinal will no longer import fertilizers by the end of 2024, Romero said during López Obrador’s morning press conference. From 2019 to 2021, PEMEX produced 61 percent of the total fertilizers that the government provides to small farmers, according to the company.

By the end of 2023, PEMEX is expected to produce 70 percent of the fertilizers needed for the small-farmers program, moving to 84 percent in 1Q24 and 100 percent by the end of 2024, said Romero. PEMEX will use the MX$15 billion investment to revamp the two urea plants and the four ammonia plants in Mexico, in addition to a comprehensive refurbishment of the fertilizer plant in Lazaro Cardenas and the phosphate rock mine in Baja California.

On the other hand, López Obrador announced that the Fertilizers for the Well-Being program will expand, benefiting over 2 million small farmers. “The program will provide free fertilizer for over 2 million producers, especially for farmers with few hectares, some who sow half hectares, one, two, others more, but for them, free fertilizer is crucial,” he said. The program will deliver 1 million tons of fertilizer in 2023.

PEMEX Seeks to Offer Permanent Jobs to All Temporary Workers by 2024

PEMEX will hire all its temporary workers in permanent positions by the end of 2024, said Romero. The state-owned company will prioritize longest-serving employees, contrary to what used to happen in the past, when union leaders preferred to offer permanent jobs to less senior workers, he added.

PEMEX will give priority to temporary employees with over 15 years working in the company, followed by those with 10-15 years and so on, to conclude the process by the end of 2024. “In the past, there were employees who sold their tenure or kept them for relatives and relatives of the union leaders,” pointed Romero.

Photo by:   Pixabay

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