Mexico City, Mexico — Mexico’s Ministry of Economy has suspended activities and cancelled export programs for a company. The suspension came after the government learned the company had imported 400,000 tons of steel illegally.
According to the Secretaría de Economía, company LAU Industries allegedly imported 400,000 tons of steel products through the IMMEX program without registration or traceability of its inputs.
The Ministry of Economy carried out the suspension of activities and consequently the cancellation of export promotion programs of two plants and warehouses of the company LAU Industries de México S. de RL, formerly RUSKIN de México SAPI.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance suspended the aforementioned company’s operations in both Monterrey and Ciudad Juárez after detecting that it allegedly imported nearly 400,000 tons of steel products through the IMMEX program during the first quarter of the year. The program failed to record or trace its inputs and allegedly undervalued them.
This increase in the aforementioned company’s steel import volume would represent the total steel imports from all IMMEX programs within the segment, recorded in the same quarter of 2024.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance also reports that, continuing its ongoing fight against illegal activity in the textile and footwear sectors, it canceled and suspended the IMMEX programs of Ensenada Textiles and Lancer Orthodontics after detecting irregularities in their export-import processes, resulting in unfair competition and consequent damage to the domestic industry.
The suspensions were carried out in compliance with instruction of President Claudia Sheinbaum and Secretary Marcelo Ebrard to preserve the economic and commercial security of Mexico.
