Cement Ship Stuck at Mexican Port for More than Two Months

The Panamanian-flagged bulk ship, "Mary Nour" and her forty-one crew have been stuck at a Mexican port for over two months, barred from unloading Russian cement. The ship is being held after local cement producers, including Mexican cement giant Cemex, used safety concerns and technicalities to prevent the unloading of low cost cement. The importer, CDM Cement, based in Monterrey, said it was cheaper to bring cement half way around the world. CDM bought the 27,000 tons of Russian cement in the Black Sea for the international price of $42 per ton plus $30 per ton shipping, which is well below Mexico's price of $115 per ton. The spokesman for the CTI Group based in Amman, Jordan, which owns the vessel and stands to lose $30,000 per day, says that the Mexican producers are simply protecting their market. The ship's crew was not allowed to receive provisions, including water, for over a week. Cemex says it doubts CDM's claims of savings, estimating that import taxes and port charges would boost the price to $105 per ton. Cemex said that it obtained a court order to block the ship from docking, fearing that it would endanger shipping in the Gulf coast port of Tampico, where Cemex has a harborside plant.