Airports, Autos Highlight Mexico's Fourth-Quarter 2015 Project Kickoffs

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A massive new airport, two grassroot auto plants, natural gas pipelines and other big-ticket items are among the projects set to kick off in Mexico during fourth-quarter 2015. Although the nation's economy is seen by many observers as sluggish this fall, Industrial Info is tracking 327 fourth-quarter kickoffs for projects with a combined worth of $18.58 billion in Mexico. The Industrial Manufacturing Industry makes up nearly two-thirds of the spending, followed by the Power, and Oil & Gas Pipelines industries.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing planned fourth-quarter 2015 project kickoffs in Mexico by industry.

Industrial Manufacturing projects amounting to $11.28 billion are set to start in the fourth quarter. In September 2014, Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto announced plans for a new international airport in Mexico City to replace its current at-capacity airport, which opened in 1958. With a total investment value of $7.25 billion, Phase I of the project includes construction of three 4,500-meter runways, a 500,000-square-foot terminal and an air traffic control tower. Intended to handle 50,000 passengers per year, the project is set for completion in May 2020. Project participants include Netherlands Airport Consultants (The Hague, Netherlands), Foster & Partners (London, England) and FR-EE (Mexico City/New York). For details on this construction project, see Industrial Info's project report.

The Power Industry comes in a distant second, with 41 projects valued at $3.07 billion. In Tula De Allende, Hidalgo, engineering is under way for a 638-megawatt (MW) combined-cycle, natural gas-fired cogeneration power station by Atco Group (Calgary, Alberta), with Grupo Hermes S.A. (Mexico City) and Mitsui de Mexico S.A. (Mexico City), part of Mitsui Group (Tokyo, Japan). The plant will supply electricity to Petroleos Mexicanos' (PEMEX) (Mexico City) 315,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) Miguel Hidalgo Refinery, with excess power to be sold to the state-owned electric utility. The plant will include two 185-MW, natural gas-fired combustion turbine generators, with duct-fired heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs), and a 268-MW steam generator set in a 2-on-1 combined-cycle configuration. The project is slated to wrap up in end-2017. For details on this construction project, see Industrial Info's project report.

In third place comes Oil & Gas Pipelines, with eight projects valued at $1.67 billion. Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE), Mexico's state-owned utility, is preparing to embark on the $820 million, grassroot Samalayuca-to-Sasabe natural gas pipeline. BOOM Company (Doha, Qatar) has been picked to oversee the 500-kilometer, 36-inch-diameter pipeline project, with completion set for mid-2017. For details on this construction project, see Industrial Info's project report.

Listed below is a summary of other Mexico projects with fourth-quarter kickoffs:

• $1 Billion: COMPAS Automobile Assembly Plant in Aguascalientes, State of Aguascalientes
  For related information, see September 8, 2015, article - Mexico Continues to Attract Big Auto Plant Projects. For details, see Industrial Info's project report.
• $550 Million: API Tuxpan S.A. de CV's Container Terminal II in Tuxpan, Veracruz
  For details on this construction project, see Industrial Info's project report.
• $530.1 Million: CFE's El Encino-to-Laguna Natural Gas Pipeline in El Encinal, Tamaulipas
  For details on this construction project, see Industrial Info's project report.
• $500 Million: Phase I of Toyota Motor Corporation's Automotive Assembly Plant in Celaya, Guanajuato
  For details on this construction project, see Industrial Info's project report.
• $450 Million: Parque Eolico's El Mezquite Windfarm in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon
  For details on this construction project, see Industrial Info's project report.
• $380 Million: Next Energy de Mexico S.A.'s Parras Windfarm in Abrevadero, Coahuila
  For details on this construction project, see Industrial Info's project report.
• $354 Million: Sistema de Tren Electrico Urbano's Mexico Rail Bridge Line 3 Tunnel Addition in Guadalajara, Jalisco
  For details on this construction project, see Industrial Info's project report.

The fourth-quarter kickoffs include 317 projects worth more than $17.54 billion that are in the engineering phases or even early construction phases. The remaining 10 projects, worth about $1.04 billion, are still in the planning phases, where plenty of factors could increase, decrease or eliminate the expected spending.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and ten international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.