After months of uncertainty over U.S. tariff policy, the construction sector has shown signs of recovery, especially in the private sector, which “is doing well,” according to the Mexican Chamber of the Construction Industry (CMIC) .

Since January, the agency noted, the value of private sector production has experienced a steady rebound, with growth of 3.8% in the last month, surpassing the 1.8% previously recorded. Construction companies have achieved four consecutive months of improvement , overcoming what had been a prolonged decline.

However, the outlook is different in the public sector, where declines persist in areas such as transportation and urbanization , which decreased by 37% in the last month, and in oil and petrochemicals , which fell by 42% , although the slowdown has been less than in previous months.

Regarding the General Law on Public Works and Services , the CMIC indicated that there is still no date set for the meeting with the President of the Chamber of Deputies , Sergio Gutiérrez Luna , although work continues on strategic points to strengthen dialogue and ensure solid proposals for future working groups.

Pemex and the debts

Luis Méndez , president of the CMIC, noted that Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) has begun paying its suppliers’ debts, but expressed concern about “hot spots” such as Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, where up to 179 debt incidents have been reported.

“There are already amounts of 300 or 400 million pesos (mdp) that were paid a few days ago, and we hope it continues along the same lines,” the executive said.

He added that diagnostic tests have been conducted in all 44 boroughs, but that “red flags” have been identified, such as in Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, and Poza Rica, Veracruz, among other areas affected by the oil company’s nonpayment.

“We were talking about the amounts in this assessment collection; we’re at approximately 2.8 billion pesos in debt, which has begun to be paid off. We expect progress to continue, however, we’re very concerned about these cities and the debts they owe,” Méndez said.

The executive also emphasized that they are in talks with Pemex’s director, Víctor Rodríguez, and with the head of the Energy Secretariat , Luz Elena González, to not only address the debts, but also to open dialogue and collaborative work.

National Development Plan presented

On the other hand, the CMIC presented the National Development Plan 2025-2030, which seeks to improve sustainable infrastructure and sustainable development in Mexico’s industries.

One of the points is that it establishes energy sovereignty and the transition to clean sources as strategic objectives, through 51 projects aimed at generating an additional 22,000 megawatts by 2030, ensuring that up to 45% of the energy comes from renewable sources.

In addition, the plan seeks to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly in the construction sector, are certified in public policies such as the Climate Change and Sustainability Education Program, which facilitates access to green financing.

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The Mexican Chamber of the Construction Industry (CMIC) expressed its concern about the reform of the Public Works and Services Law and announced that it will present a proposal to modify some of its articles.

Luis Méndez, president of the organization, said that under the backdrop of major projects underway by the current administration, such as the railways and the modernization of Mexico City International Airport (AICM) , the sector is seeking to become more competitive and expand its scope of participation in these types of projects.

“There’s a lot to be done in the law. We have three or four points that we’re concerned about. We’ve spoken with the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, in a very constructive dialogue, where we’re signing a collaboration agreement to set a standard for collaboration with them. We’re designing proposals for these adjustments that were made, where we see potential for improvement, including amending some articles of the law,” he said.

At a press conference, he reiterated that his proposal will be presented to legislators in the coming weeks.

José Alfonso Carrillo, Technical Coordinator of Information and Sector Assistance at CMIC, explained that among the problems they detected in the “recently patched law” are those related to bidding, where the concern is the lack of transparency in these competitions , as well as the elimination of Compranet and the discretionary nature of the awarding of projects.

“What we were asking for was reform and to give teeth to the social witnesses, so that they would have greater responsibility and compensation, but they disappeared and the citizen component will be incorporated. With the new law, citizens are being invited, and we’d have to see if they have the expertise of this chamber and years of experience in what happens on the projects,” he said.

Méndez added that the organization was not convened to analyze this reform , although the approach with the legislators was positive for conducting a dialogue on their proposals.

It should be noted that in early April, the Senate approved the proposal submitted by the federal government, which seeks to establish contracting strategies to ensure that the State obtains the best market contracting conditions for the execution of public works or the contracting of its services, as well as the obligation to include justification for contracts between public entities.

Therefore, among the actions proposed are updating the public procurement system and creating the Digital Public Procurement Platform , the main objective of which is to automate the entire public procurement process.

Pemex debt

Likewise, he reported that Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) currently has a debt of nearly one billion pesos with companies in the construction sector and affiliated with the CMIC. He even confirmed that the lack of payments is already causing the closure of some of these companies.

“The Pemex issue is critical. There are many outstanding debts for members in Salina Cruz, Coatzacoalcos, Poza Rica, and Minatitlán. Some payments have been made, but they are very few, which is causing a crisis for members. We are about to speak with the director of Pemex to raise awareness, but there are significant debts,” he said.

On Tuesday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that Pemex has already paid nearly 60% of its debts to suppliers.

According to Energy21 , Pemex owes its suppliers and contractors 404 billion pesos, an 11% increase in the first quarter of this year.

In just one year, this debt increased by 39 billion pesos, from the 364 billion pesos recorded in the first quarter of last year.

The outstanding payment to suppliers represents the second-highest short-term liability facing the oil company, surpassed only by the short-term financial debt of 561 billion pesos, but above taxes and fees payable, outstanding accrued accounts and expenses, derivative financial instruments, and other items.

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