As Australian Ambassador to Mexico Rachel Moseley said in an interview published earlier this week, Australia's investment in Mexico is “growing rapidly”, with Macquarie Group, Aleatica and Woodside Energy Group Companies such as are leading the way.
Sydney-based financial services and asset management company Macquarie and infrastructure company Aretica have been in Mexico for some time, but Woodside is a new entrant who acquired interests in large oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico as a result of a 2022 merger. . It has partnered with the oil division of Melbourne-based company BHP Group.
This week's article, part of Mexico News Daily's 'Australia in the spotlight' series, looks at the activities of three companies in Mexico.
The assets they own and the projects they work on have a significant impact on Mexico's quest to maximize nearshoring opportunities, improve transportation infrastructure, and achieve and maintain gasoline self-sufficiency. there is a possibility.
Macquarie in the midst of Mexico's early nearshoring boom
FIBRA Macquarie, a real estate investment trust listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV), owns 256 industrial and commercial properties in 20 cities in Mexico, according to the trust's website.
One of Mexico's largest real estate portfolios with a total value of USD 3 billion.
FIBRA Macquarie, part of Macquarie Group's Macquarie Asset Management division, was listed on the BMV in 2012 and has continued to grow ever since.
Twelve years later, the company is a leading leasing company for industrial space and is building on Mexico's nascent nearshoring boom as it develops several industrial parks, including one scheduled to open in Tijuana later this year. It plays an important role in
FIBRA Macquarie CEO Simon Hanna said that in addition to manufacturing space, which is in high demand as more foreign companies relocate to the country, companies are also increasing the number of “safety stocks” in Mexico to avoid supply shocks. The company is said to be actively looking for warehouses and logistics facilities.
With a total leasable area of 35.6 million square feet, FIBRAMQ, as the trust is known, is better positioned than other companies to offer such space to those looking for it.
“Lean, just-in-time manufacturing is at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Hanna said, referring to North American companies sourcing raw materials from outside the continent, particularly Asia. , many people learned the hard way.”
One of FIBRAMQ's newest projects is a $90 million industrial park in Tijuana that, when completed, will have more than 80,000 square meters of leasable space spread over three state-of-the-art buildings.
Construction began last August and the first of the three buildings is expected to be completed in the first half of this year.
“This project represents a pivotal step in our efforts to foster economic growth and development in the region and capitalize on the acceleration of nearshoring activity into Mexico,” Hanna said.
“We remain committed to providing market-leading industrial space that meets the evolving needs of businesses and incorporates good sustainable building standards. Our company currently has 38 locations in Baja California. “We have a portfolio of properties, host 57 businesses and bring thousands of jobs to the state economy,” he added.
In 2023, FIBRAMQ also developed projects in other northern states: San Luis Potosi, Querétaro and Mexico City.
“We have continued to invest in sustainable industrial projects…to solidify our position… [trust] to capture future growth and nearshoring opportunities,” Hanna said last May.
He acknowledged in the second half of the year that FIBRAMQ's real estate portfolio was benefiting from “sustained demand and tailwinds from nearshoring.”
FIBRAMQ, whose stock price rose about 17% last year, is headquartered in Mexico City and has offices in nine other “core markets,” including Queretaro, Monterrey and Tijuana.
Aleatica is investing heavily in highway infrastructure
If you've ever driven through central Mexico, there's a good chance you've driven on highways managed by Aretica, an infrastructure company owned by the Melbourne-based IFM Global Infrastructure Fund.
The company operates six highways in Mexico, including the Circuit Exterior Mexikense in Mexico state, the Viaducto Bicentenario in Mexico City, and the Amozoc Perote motorway in Puebla and Veracruz states.
The company is building Mexico's other state highway, Autopista Atizapan-Atracomulco, and also operates Toluca International Airport.
According to a video on Aretica's website, the company has invested more than 73 billion pesos (US$4.3 billion) in Mexico.
“This demonstrates our firm determination to propel this country into the future,” said Aleatica, which is ranked the 11th most important construction company in Mexico by the Obras por Expansión website. Masu.
Aretica's presence in Mexico was strengthened in 2018 with IFM's acquisition of Spanish company OHL. With this acquisition, Aleatica will acquire the Mexican acquired additional highway concessions in
OHL is said to have benefited from friendly relations with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and given that PRI's long-standing control of the state will end in 2023, the current holdings of Areatica will be There was also speculation that even if the concessions in Mexico state, where the country is located, are not revoked, they may be reviewed. Last September. However, the state government, led by Governor Delfina Gómez of the Morena party, has not made any announcement to that effect.
Aleatica has established itself as one of Mexico's most important infrastructure operators, but its presence in the country is not without its problems. Currently, the legality of the operation of the Bicentenario Viaduct is being questioned by federal authorities, and construction of the Atizapan-Atracomulco highway is facing delays.
The Milenio newspaper reported last month that the motorway has been “virtually forgotten”.
Aretica was also in the news in early 2022 when a contract worker was killed in an accident while working on the exterior section of the Mexikense circuit near AIFA.
The company states that “safety first” is one of its “five corporate pillars,” and Mexico's 2022 Annual Sustainability Report shows that accidents for employees using roads and drivers The number of deaths has decreased compared to the previous year. Aleatica invests heavily both in the maintenance of Mexico's highways and in concrete measures to improve safety and reduce accidents.
Aleatica México CEO Rubén López Barrera said the company also touts its environmental efforts and aims to become a “net zero” company by 2050.
Woodside partners with Pemex to develop huge offshore oil field
Australia's largest oil and gas producer announced in June last year that it had approved a multibillion-dollar investment in the Trion field, which it co-owns with Mexico's state oil company Pemex.
The Perth-based company, which owns a 60 per cent stake in Trion, said it would contribute US$4.8 billion to the project, taking the total expected spend to $7.2 billion.
Mexico's National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) approved development plans for the field in August. The plan had an estimated total cost of $10.43 billion, including investment and operating costs.
Trion, located approximately 180 kilometers off the Gulf Coast and 30 kilometers south of the Mexico-U.S. maritime border, is estimated to hold well over 400 million barrels of oil. Extraction is scheduled to begin in 2028 and continue until 2052.
As the global energy transition progresses, Woodside CEO Meg O'Neill said in June that the company was “considering a variety of oil demand projections” and that Trion would “meet global energy needs.” He said he believes it will be useful.
The current Mexican government also believes that oil demand will remain strong for decades to come. Under President Andres Manuel López Obrador, the company spent billions of pesos to buy a refinery in Texas, build a new refinery on the Tabasco coast, and renovate Pemex's six other refineries. invested.
“I wish we would no longer use oil and fossil fuels and we would care more about the environment, but there is a process in the energy transition that has to be carried out,” the president said after last year's conference. With OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghaith.
Woodside said it was “consistent” with Mexico's ambitions to increase oil production, and predicted that more than $10 billion in accumulated taxes and royalties would flow into Mexican government coffers as a result of the Trion development.
O'Neill said the company is developing this field “because we believe it will create value for Woodside shareholders and provide benefits for Mexico, including job creation, tax revenue and social benefits.” said.
Woodside has been a frequent target of criticism from environmentalists, but the company said last year that its “greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals remain unchanged by the decision to approve the investment in Trion.”
Mexico News Daily Chief Correspondent Peter Davis ([email protected])
This article is the fourth in Mexico News Daily's Australia in Focus series. Read about the history of Australia-Mexico relations here, read an interview with the Australian ambassador to Mexico here, and read the story of two Australians forever linked to Mexico here.
