By Anthony Harrup


MEXICO CITY--The Mexican government bought Mitsubishi's minority stake in a major salt-producing plant on the Baja California peninsula, taking full ownership of the operation and declaring its nationalization.

Exportadora de Sal, the world's biggest sea salt operation with annual production of more than 8 million metric tons, was 51% owned by the Mexican government and 49% by Mitsubishi.

Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro said Saturday that the government paid 1.5 billion Mexican pesos ($88 million) for Mitsubishi's stake and now owns 100% of Exportadora de Sal.

Mexico is the world's seventh-largest producer of salt with output of 8.7 million tons a year, according to the Economy Ministry. Exportadora de Sal, also known as Essa, supplies salt to Japan, the U.S. and other countries.

"With the nationalization of Essa, we are complying with the president's precept that the benefits generated by our natural resources stay in our country," Buenrostro said at an event.

The acquisition is the latest move by nationalist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to increase the state's role in energy and natural resources. Last year his government nationalized Mexico's lithium deposits after the congress passed a law restricting lithium exploration and development to the state.

State oil company Petróleos Mexicanos bought joint-venture partner Shell's 50% stake in the Deer Park refinery near Houston, Texas in 2022 for around $600 million, and the government last year acquired 13 power generating plants from Spain's Iberdrola for about $6 billion, transferring their operation to state electric utility Comisión Federal de Electricidad.

At the beginning of this year, the government ordered Pemex to take over temporarily Air Liquide's hydrogen plant at the state-owned oil company's Tula refinery in central Mexico, saying the decision would improve Pemex's refining margins and contribute to national energy sovereignty.

Earlier this month, the government declared the hydrogen plant a "public utility," a step toward eventual expropriation. Air Liquide acquired the plant from Pemex under the previous government administration with a contract to supply the state company with hydrogen.


Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-26-24 0728ET