Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has put forth a $385 million offer to Vulcan Materials, an Alabama-based company, in an attempt to resolve a long-standing disagreement over the company's former gravel extraction sites on the Yucatan peninsula's Caribbean coast. These pits were previously shut down by the president's administration, leading to a legal battle with Vulcan.

Vulcan Materials has not yet responded to the offer, and in previous filings related to an international arbitration case, the company valued the nearly 6,000-acre property, situated south of Playa del Carmen, at $1.9 billion. President López Obrador believes his significantly lower offer is justified, basing it on a government appraisal. He highlighted the property's freight shipping dock as its most valuable asset, intending to repurpose it for cruise ships. This dock, the only major port facility in that area of the Caribbean coast, would also be strategically beneficial for transporting materials like gravel and cement for the president's ambitious Maya Train project.

The president also envisions transforming the flooded gravel pits into eco-tourism attractions, potentially operating them as concessions through private entities. These pits are currently home to crocodiles, a protected species in Mexico. President López Obrador hinted at the possibility of seizing the property if the offer is not accepted before his term ends in September 2024. He stated that a resolution, one way or another, would be reached before his departure, and that any agreement would require Vulcan to withdraw its claims for damages from the arbitration panel.

The dispute originated in 2021 when Mexico's environment ministry closed Vulcan's limestone quarry, prohibiting the export of stone previously used in construction projects in the U.S. and Mexico. The president alleged that the company was operating without the necessary permits, a claim Vulcan denies. The U.S. State Department expressed concerns in March regarding the fair treatment of U.S. companies in Mexico after police seized Vulcan's cargo terminal, subsequently using it to unload cargo for a Mexican cement company, Cemex.

The president's interest in the Punta Venado dock stems from the need to transport materials for the Maya Train project. Due to a lack of local sources of crushed stone, or ballast, essential for stabilizing the tracks, López Obrador has been importing it from Cuba. Ships carrying this ballast have been docking at the port of Sisal on the Gulf of Mexico side of the Yucatan peninsula, requiring the cargo to be trucked approximately 180 miles to certain construction sites. Vulcan's dock is the only private freight dock on the Caribbean side capable of handling these shipments.

The 950-mile Maya Train line is designed to loop around the Yucatan Peninsula, connecting resorts and archaeological sites. President López Obrador presents the train as a means of distributing tourism revenue from Cancun to inland communities. However, there is a lack of robust feasibility studies demonstrating tourist demand for the train.

Mexico President Obrador has offered $385 million for an American company's Caribbean property in an ongoing dispute.  (Fox News)