The Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) sanctioned Walmart Mexico after determining that, for 13 years, the company used its market power to impose abusive conditions on its suppliers in the distribution of food, beverages, and hygiene and cleaning products.

According to Cofece, these illegal practices gave it undue advantages over other self-service stores, especially affecting small and medium-sized suppliers and harming competition in the sector.

Among the behaviors identified, Walmart imposed discretionary discounts on its suppliers, forcing them not to offer better conditions to other stores , which restricted competition and limited the possibility of other stores offering attractive prices, which impacted both suppliers and Mexican families.

Meanwhile, Cofece imposed a fine on Walmart and ordered measures that will be in effect for ten years, such as not retaliating against suppliers for their business relationships with other stores.

Walmart may also not impose prices or conditions on its suppliers that limit competition, not require information on prices or conditions that suppliers offer to other stores, and not apply discounts without the supplier’s express consent.

In addition, Cofece imposed obligations on Walmart to update internal policies and contracts to align with the resolution , establish a communication channel to report irregularities, and implement a compliance program on economic competition with a high-level official.

Cofece assured that these measures seek to guarantee fair competition in the market, allowing self-service stores to negotiate freely with suppliers and compete on equal terms to benefit Mexican consumers.

The agency will oversee compliance with the ruling for a decade, with the possibility of imposing fines of up to 8% of Walmart’s revenue for non-compliance.

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Although at the end of 2023 and even in the first quarter of 2024 the State of Mexico was ranked as the entity with the highest number of robberies from motor transport, a change in the trend was anticipated as a result of the actions undertaken in the entity, and that could motivate Puebla to position itself as the state with the greatest problem.

At the close of the first half of the year and now in the third quarter results, Puebla remains with the highest incidence of crime in motor transport, with 27% of the national total, and even with an increase of eight percentage points compared to the same quarter of 2023, according to the quarterly report of Overhaul, a security and logistics intelligence firm.

Contrary to what was seen in Puebla, the State of Mexico contributed 19% of national participation at the end of 3Q24, which represents a contraction of nine points, since in the same period of 2023 it had reached 28 percent.

The rest of the top five entities with the highest number of robberies remained the same or increased slightly, as shown in the following graph.

By type of goods, Food and beverages remains the category most affected by crime, as observed in the Overhaul report , accounting for 31% of the total stolen products. The most affected categories are Construction & Industrial, Miscellaneous, Home & Garden, Auto & Parts and Pharmaceuticals.

The quarterly Overhaul report also highlights the temporal distribution, with the most affected hours being from 6 p.m. to midnight , and the second most affected being from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m.

While the highest incidence is recorded when the units are in transit, 27% of the incidents were recorded when the units were stopped, although this category increased by five percentage points in the reference quarter, Overhaul warned.

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El cargo Puebla, with no changes in crime rates and leading in auto transport theft apareció primero en T21.

In the days leading up to the national celebrations last September, the auto transport industry faced an increase in the theft of vehicles and merchandise. Contrary to this trend warned by Overhaul , the days after the Grito de Independencia had a more moderate accident rate.

In its report for last September, Overhaul announced that cargo theft in Mexico increased 6.8% compared to the previous month, August 2024, while in reference to September 2023 the increase was 4.6 percent.

The analysis and intelligence firm, Overhaul, highlighted that crimes against motor transport were evenly distributed throughout the weeks with peaks before the national holidays and the end of the month.

“Between September 14 and 16, when the national holidays were celebrated, cargo theft activity decreased considerably,” it stated in its monthly report, as can be seen in the following graph.

The central region remains the region with the highest incidence, concentrating 60% of the incidents, while the Bajío region contributed 20% during September.

By state, for the third consecutive month, Puebla remains in first place in accidents, contributing 31% of the total, while the State of Mexico contributed 22%, meaning that between the two, they contribute more than half of the criminal events.

Since the beginning of the year, Overhaul anticipated that due to the actions undertaken against crime in the State of Mexico, there was a risk that the gangs would move to other regions, and in that scenario Puebla was seen as an area of ​​possible increase in its records.

Overhaul analyzed that 79% of the incidence was recorded between Tuesday and Friday , with Wednesday being the one that faced the greatest situation with 22%, in contrast to what happened on Saturdays and Sundays.

In the following graph, it can also be seen that the hours of greatest risk are at night, while the most affected configuration is tractor-trailers.

During September 2024, peaks were recorded between 05:00-10:00 hours (30%) and 18:00-22:00 hours (25%).

By type of merchandise, the Food & Beverage category (27%) remains the most affected, followed by Construction & Industrial (10%) , while Auto & Parts was in third place with nine percent.

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In the cumulative period from January to August 2024, vehicle theft reached 2,294 units, of which 49.5%, that is, 1,135 were heavy vehicles, while private vehicles accounted for 800 and light vehicles 359, based on figures from the National Association of Vehicle Tracking and Protection Companies (ANEPRV).

In this context, Overhaul , the intelligence firm focused on the logistics industry, reports with data as of the end of August that the products most stolen from auto transport are food and beverages with 31% of the incidents, followed by construction and industrial with 16%, miscellaneous 11%, as the three main categories. This was stated by Luis Villatoro, director of Supply Chain Security & Intelligence LATAM at Overhaul, in his collaboration with T21.

In an analysis carried out by Overhaul on the behavior of thefts in the last three years, it was identified that in the time interval from September 15 to 18, right during the period of national celebrations, cargo theft in Mexico decreased by 62% compared to the daily average of this crime during this month.

In contrast, from September 12 to 14, prior to the national holidays, it increases by 36%, and from September 18 to 21 (after the holidays) it increases by up to 48% as part of a temporary shift to recover from the period of criminal inactivity, stated the Overhaul Intelligence Alert.

“One of the hottest products affected by the most crimes this month is the alcoholic beverages sector, which is becoming a target for criminals, since it is a product that is consumed during celebrations and sold through informal markets,” the Alert noted.

According to Overhaul, theft in this sector increases by up to 34% during this period, which demonstrates the seasonality of the behavior and demand for this “hot” product , which also occurs during another time window during the December festivities.

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El cargo Patriotic Holidays, a Risk for Beverage Transportation apareció primero en T21.

During June 2024, motor transportation theft in Mexico experienced an increase of 4.1% compared to the indicators of the same cycle in 2023; Meanwhile, when compared against the previous month, May 2024, the registration for the sixth month of the year is 4.2% lower.

In the report carried out by Overhaul , it is identified that the last week of the month recorded the highest number of incidents during June, which is a result of the increase in cargo movement towards the end of the month, the company commented in a statement.

As for the days of the week, Tuesday remains the most active for crime, during June 23% of the robberies were carried out on this day , followed by Friday with 16% of the total robberies.

By region, 54% of the incidents are recorded in the center , 27% in the shoal, 10% in the northeast, 6% in the southeast and 3% in the northwest.

The top 10 entities with the most thefts are led by the State of Mexico with 19.7% of the total losses, followed by Puebla with 17.7%; Together, these two states contribute 37.4% of the total illicit crimes.

By product category, “Food and beverages” remains the most demanded by crime with 31% of the total , “Construction & industrial” captured 16% of the accidents, while “Chemicals” was located with 11 percent. 

Regarding the location, Overhaul reported that 76% of the thefts occurred in transit, while 22% occurred when the units were stopped.

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El cargo Tuesday, the Day with the Most Cargo Theft; Overhaul Reveals Figures as of June 2024 apareció primero en T21.