• EXCEPTION: Mexican health authorities have granted a special license for steel, cement and glass industries to continue operating amid the coronavirus health emergency in order to supply the López Obrador administration priority projects including the Dos Bocas oil refinery and the Mayan Train.
• PROJECTS: “Steel, cement and glass production companies with current contracts with the federal government will continue activities to allow them to meet short-term commitments exclusively for the Dos Bocas, Mayan Train, Felipe Ángeles Airport, Trans-Isthmus Corridor projects”, the text reads.
• EMERGENCY: Last week, Mexico declared a national health emergency ordering the suspension of nonessential activities including most of industry. With an expected GDP contraction of up to 8% this year, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has not relented in pursuing his priority projects.
• WASTE: “The Government will channel resources to keep the ‘priority projects’ (refinery, Mayan train and the Santa Lucia Airport) running, projects that most analysts agree are a waste of resources”, analysts at Scotiabank Economics warned last Friday ahead of the announcement.
