Mexico bans Mary Nour import from Russia?

Unconfirmed reports on November 25, 2004 suggest that Mexican customs authorities have banned Mexican cement importer Comercio para el Desarrollo Mexicano (CDM), to import cement from Russia.  CDM is a joint venture of Jordan-based CTI Group, Spain-based Tradeland Commodities and Mexican businessmen. The embargo was imposed under the petition of Mexican cement producer Cemex.

The Panamanian-flagged ship Mary Nour, operated by CDM, arrived at the port of Tampico, on the Mexican Atlantic coast, in July 2004, carrying 27,000t of Russian cement, but it was blocked by the Mexican authorities under Cemex’s claim. The ship has apparently failed to import the product, because it was alleged to have made an error in the import procedure, Altamira customs administrator, Gerardo Zapien Pacheco, said. Thus, the Mexican authorities have imposed an embargo on the product.