Public decision contradicts Mexico's false claims and confirms its actions were arbitrary, discriminatory, and undertaken without good faith or transparency
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Tribunal published its decision confirming that the Government of Mexico violated international law through its arbitrary and unfair treatment of Vulcan Materials Company ("Vulcan" or the "Company") and its investments in Quintana Roo. The decision directly contradicts Mexico's attempts to portray its actions as legitimate environmental enforcement. The Tribunal declared Mexico's counterclaims of environmental harm inadmissible and found that Mexican environmental authorities improperly used regulatory powers to target Vulcan, shut down its lawful operations, and prevent the Company from meaningfully defending itself in Mexican proceedings.
Vulcan issued the following statement:
"Now that the Tribunal's decision is public, Mexico can no longer hide behind a false account of what happened. The Tribunal found that Mexico violated international law, acted arbitrarily, without good faith and transparency, and denied Vulcan basic due process. Mexico may continue to distort the decision, but it cannot change the facts."
"This dispute extends far beyond Vulcan. Mexico's unlawful mistreatment of an American company raises fundamental questions about property rights, the rule of law, and whether Mexico can be trusted to honor its commitments that are essential for fostering bilateral economic prosperity. Every U.S. business operating or considering an investment in Mexico should take notice: If the Mexican government can disregard Vulcan's rights with impunity, no American company's investment is secure."
Mexico's rejected environmental counterclaims of environmental harm are further undermined by Vulcan's longstanding and internationally recognized record of environmental stewardship. Over the course of its operations in Quintana Roo, the Company received six Clean Industry Awards from Mexico's own environmental enforcement agency, PROFEPA, and planted more than 80,000 native trees as part of its environmental restoration and conservation efforts. By contrast, after shutting down Vulcan's operations in Quintana Roo, the Mexican government allowed at least 12 nearby quarries to operate without the permits and environmental reviews that Mexico had imposed on Vulcan, underscoring Mexico's discriminatory treatment of Vulcan and the arbitrary application of environmental regulations.
The Tribunal's decision covers only a portion of Mexico's unlawful conduct. It does not adjudicate the May 2022 military shutdown, the March 2023 occupation of Vulcan's port or the September 2024 decree depriving Vulcan of the use and benefit of its property. Those actions remain unresolved and could give rise to additional legal, diplomatic, and economic consequences.
About Vulcan Materials Company
Vulcan Materials Company, a member of the S&P 500 Index with headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama, is the nation's largest producer of construction aggregates—primarily crushed stone, sand and gravel—and a major producer of asphalt and ready-mixed concrete. For additional information about Vulcan, visit www.vulcanmaterials.com.
Forward-Looking Statement Disclaimer
This document contains forward-looking statements. Statements that are not historical fact, including statements about Vulcan's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are sometimes identified by the use of terms and phrases such as "believe," "should," "would," "expect," "project," "estimate," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "will," "can," "may" or similar expressions elsewhere in this document. These statements are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, including but not limited to general business conditions, competitive factors, pricing, energy costs, and other risks and uncertainties discussed in the reports Vulcan periodically files with the SEC.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results, developments, and business decisions may vary significantly from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. The following risks related to Vulcan's business, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements: general economic and business conditions; domestic and global political, economic or diplomatic developments, including the military conflict in the Middle East involving the United States, Israel and Iran; a pandemic, epidemic or other public health emergency; Vulcan's dependence on the construction industry, which is subject to economic cycles; the timing and amount of federal, state and local funding for infrastructure; changes in the level of spending for private residential and private nonresidential construction; changes in Vulcan's effective tax rate; the increasing reliance on information technology infrastructure, including the risks that the infrastructure does not work as intended, experiences technical difficulties or is subjected to cyber-attacks; the impact of the state of the global economy on Vulcan's businesses and financial condition and access to capital markets; international business operations and relationships, including actions taken by the Mexican government with respect to Vulcan's property and operations in that country; the highly competitive nature of the construction industry; the impact of future regulatory or legislative actions, including those relating to climate change, biodiversity, land use, wetlands, greenhouse gas emissions, the definition of minerals, tax policy and domestic and international trade; the outcome of pending legal proceedings; pricing of Vulcan's products; weather and other natural phenomena, including the impact of climate change and availability of water; availability and cost of trucks, railcars, barges and ships as well as their licensed operators for transport of Vulcan's materials; energy costs; costs of hydrocarbon-based raw materials; healthcare costs; labor relations, shortages and constraints; the amount of long-term debt and interest expense incurred by Vulcan; changes in interest rates; volatility in pension plan asset values and liabilities, which may require cash contributions to the pension plans; the impact of environmental cleanup costs and other liabilities relating to existing and/or divested businesses; Vulcan's ability to secure and permit aggregates reserves in strategically located areas; Vulcan's ability to identify, close and successfully integrate acquisitions; the effect of changes in tax laws, guidance and interpretations; significant downturn in the construction industry may result in the impairment of goodwill or long-lived assets; changes in technologies, which could disrupt the way Vulcan does business and how Vulcan's products are distributed; the risks of open pit and underground mining; expectations relating to sustainability considerations; claims that our products do not meet regulatory requirements or contractual specifications; and other assumptions, risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in the reports filed by Vulcan with the SEC. All forward-looking statements in this communication are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Vulcan disclaims and does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement in this document except as required by law.
Media Contact:
Investor Contact: Mark Warren (205)-298-3220
Media Contact: Jack Bonnikson (205)-298-3220
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SOURCE Vulcan Materials Company
