Mexico eyes fertilizer plants to achieve food sovereignty under AMLO

The Mexican government acquired and rehabilitated through federal oil and gas company Pemex five fertilizer plants as part of a plan to achieve food sovereignty by the end of the term of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) in September. 

According to a freedom of information request filed by BNamericas, two of the plants produce urea and are located in Coatzacoalcos port in Veracruz state. They were a result of the acquisition in 2013 of Agronitrogenados, now known as Pro-Agroindustria. 

Of the others, two produce phosphate fertilizers and one nitrogen fertilizers. They are located in the Unidad Industrial area of Michoacán state’s Lázaro Cárdenas port hub and came from the acquisition in 2016 of Grupo Fertinal. 

In its response, Pemex says both Pro-Agroindustria and Grupo Fertinal are under the control of its subsidiary Pemex Transformación Industrial, which is also in charge of the rehabilitation of the 103ha Cosoleacaque petrochemical complex in Veracruz state. The company did not provide an update of progress on that project. 

One of Pro-Agroindustria’s plants began operations at the end of 2020, while the other reportedly started operations at the end of April. The three from Grupo Fertinal were already operating, Pemex said. 

Agronitrogenados was bought 10 years ago during the government of Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-18) at a cost of about US$200mn above fair value, according to reports. Former Pemex CEO Emilio Lozoya is still facing legal proceedings over his alleged role in the purchase.

During an event in March that commemorated the nationalization of the oil industry, CEO Octavio Romero Oropeza announced that, following the rehabilitation of the two urea plants and one of the phosphate plants, the company expects to increase production from a combined 781,000t in 2018 to around 2Mt/y. 

In March 2022, Romero said the government would invest US$300mn in the rehabilitation of the acquired assets and the complex. Of the total, US$56mn was supposed to go to the Pro-Agroindustria plants, US$144mn to the Fertinal ones and US$100mn to the petchem complex.