BASE METALS UPDATE: Grupo Mexico: Cananea Talks Going Well
Workers at La Cananea, a copper mine located in northern Sonora state, said Tuesday that talks were advancing well with parent company Grupo Mexico SA (GMEXICO.MX) over annual contract revisions.
Union Committee Plans To Discuss Asarco Offer Wednesday
The union bargaining committee representing workers striking against Asarco Inc. (ASX.XX) is planning to meet Wednesday to discuss a one-year contract offer that has been made by the company, as well as other issues, a union official reported Tuesday morning.
Mexico Steel Talks End Without Deal, No Strikes Seen Tue
MEXICO CITY (Dow Jones)–Mexican mining operations are expected to operate normally Tuesday despite the looming threat of a second round of staggered work stoppages after talks over a related steel strike ended without progress, a mining union official said late Monday.
Teck Cominco:Still Supplying Clients Despite Trail Strike
LONDON (Dow Jones)–Teck Cominco Ltd. (TEK.SV.B.T) Monday said it expects to continue supplying zinc and lead to its customers throughout August, while a five-week strike rumbles on at its Trail operations in Canada.
STORIES OF INTEREST:
Constellation: Utah Copper Mine On Track For Nov. Output
VANCOUVER (Dow Jones)–Constellation Copper Corp. (CCU.T) expects first production from its US$56 million Lisbon Valley open-pit copper mine in Utah by mid-November and will likely seek a U.S. exchange listing once it is generating cash flow.
FOCUS: Copper Premiums Look Set For Further Hike In ‘06
LONDON (Dow Jones)–Copper premium negotiations for 2006 indicate a further hike in prices for next year, industry players say.
Peru’s June Gold, Zinc Output Rises; Copper Drops
More: sg.biz.yahoo.com
Six years after buying U.S. copper giant Asarco and its prized Peruvian assets, Grupo Mexico might opt to sever links with its U.S. unit and end fights with its feisty union.
With all 1,500 unionized workers at Asarco on strike alleging "bad faith" contract negotiations by the company and both sides not even in talks, analysts say Grupo Mexico could turn its back on its troubled U.S. operations.
The Mexicans have openly said they are considering asset sales at Asarco, which Grupo Mexico bought for more than $2 billion in 1999, an acquisition that almost sank the company when copper prices then
Merrill Lynch opens Grupo Mexico cover with "buy"
Merrill Lynch began coverage of Mexican copper giant Grupo Mexico with a "buy" rating on Tuesday, pointing to strong prices, a debt restructuring and improvements in returning cash to shareholders.
Merrill Lynch set its 12-month price target for Grupo Mexico at 26 pesos per share. They were trading on Tuesday morning at 18.57 pesos, up 1.31 percent in the session.
Grupo Mexico has leveraged record metals prices to tidy up its finances, reducing net debt from $2.5 billion in December 2004 to $1.4 at the end of June.
Grupo Mexico is the world's No. 3 copper
Grupo Mexico, Acindar, CPFL, Grendene: Latin Equity Preview
The following stocks may make significant gains or losses in Latin America today. Symbols are in parentheses after the company name and stock prices are from the last session.
Mexico
Grupo Mexico SA (GMEXICOB MM): Asarco LLC, the U.S. mining unit of Grupo Mexico SA, said it will hire hourly employees to replace union workers after talks failed to end a 10-week strike at copper mines and plants in Arizona and Texas. Grupo Mexico shares fell 34 centavos, or 1.8 percent, to 19.01 pesos.
Vitro SA (VITROA MM): Rising international natural gas prices
UPDATE 1-Bank of America sells Mexico asset management firm
Bank of America Corp. (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it will sell its asset management business in Mexico to Grupo Financiero Santander Serfin, the Mexican subsidiary of Madrid-based Grupo Santander (SAN.MC: Quote, Profile, Research)(STD.N: Quote, Profile, Research).
Terms of the deal, expected to close no later than the end of first-quarter 2006, were not disclosed. The Mexico business has about $1.8 billion under management.
Bank of America said it decided to sell the business because it did not have sufficient synergies with the company's corporate and investment banking and cash management businesses
UPDATE 3-Mexico's Televisa bids for Spanish TV license
Grupo Televisa, the world's top producer of Spanish-language programming, is bidding for a license to operate broadcast television in Spain, expanding its reach to tap a 2.7 billion euro ($2.24 billion) advertising market.
Televisa (TV.N: Quote, Profile, Research) (TLEVISACPO.MX: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it teamed with a group of investors for a concession granted by the Spanish government that would give them access to one analog and two digital channels with national coverage.
"Televisa will have a stake of 40 percent in the consortium, while a group of Spanish investors led by Grupo
UPDATE 1-Houston Exploration to sell Gulf of Mexico assets
Houston Exploration Co. (THX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Tuesday said it plans to sell its entire asset base in the Gulf of Mexico, which has historically accounted for about 40 percent of its total production.
The company said it would open a data room for the offshore assets in January and expects to complete a sale in the first quarter. Wachovia Securities is acting as financial adviser on the sale.
The company said it would use the proceeds to potentially acquire new onshore assets, reduce debt or buy back stock. Its year-end 2004 offshore
Grupo Mexico, Axtel, Gol, Tractebel: Latin Equity Preview
The following stocks may make significant gains or losses in Latin America today. Symbols are in parentheses after the company name and stock prices are from the last session.
Mexico
Grupo Mexico (GMEXICOB MM): Mexico's antitrust agency may block Grupo Carso SA, the Mexican industrial group controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, from selling its railroad to copper producer Grupo Mexico SA, said Eduardo Perez Motta, president of Mexico's Federal Competition Commission yesterday. Grupo Mexico, which operates the Mexican railroad Ferromex, announced on Nov. 25 it agreed to buy Ferrosur SA in exchange
UPDATE 3-Mexico's Cemex net profit almost doubles on RMC buy
Mexico's Cemex (CX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's No. 3 cement maker, almost doubled its net profit in the third quarter from higher sales after the consolidation of its acquisition of Britain's ready-mix concrete giant RMC.
Cemex (CEMEXCPO.MX: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday its July-September net profit was $675 million, lower than market forecasts, but up from $361 million a year earlier.
A Reuters' survey of six analysts had yielded an average forecast that net profit for Cemex, which operates in more than 50 countries, would come in at $783
UPDATE 3-Mexico's Cemex net profit almost doubles on RMC buy
Mexico's Cemex (CX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's No. 3 cement maker, almost doubled its net profit in the third quarter from higher sales after the consolidation of its acquisition of Britain's ready-mix concrete giant RMC.
Cemex (CEMEXCPO.MX: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday its July-September net profit was $675 million, lower than market forecasts, but up from $361 million a year earlier.
A Reuters' survey of six analysts had yielded an average forecast that net profit for Cemex, which operates in more than 50 countries, would come in at $783
Globalia teams up with Mexico's Grupo Angeles for local airlines bid
Spain's Globalia Corporacion Empresarial has teamed up with Mexico's Grupo Angeles to place a bid for two local airlines, Saturday's La Gaceta de los Negocios reported, citing unnamed sources close to negotiations.
Grupo Angeles, a real estate company, will hold 75 pct of the consortium while Globalia will hold the remaining 25 pct, the newspaper said.
The two airlines on the block are state-owned Mexicana de Aviacion and Aeromexico.
Source: forbes.com
