BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — An international tribunal has found that Mexico violated its obligations under the North American Free Trade Agreement in its treatment of Birmingham-based Vulcan Materials Co.’s limestone operations in Quintana Roo, awarding the company $15.9 million plus interest in a dispute that has drawn years of pressure from Alabama’s congressional delegation.
The decision by an arbitration tribunal convened through the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes stems from Mexican authorities’ January 2018 closure of one portion of Vulcan’s Mexican operations, known as El Corchalito. The tribunal ordered Mexico to pay Vulcan subsidiary Legacy Vulcan LLC $15,884,117, with interest calculated from Jan. 24, 2018 until payment is made.
The decision, published Sept. 9, is a legal victory for Vulcan but does not settle the company’s broader fight over its Calica limestone quarry and Punta Venado port near Playa del Carmen. Mexico said the tribunal rejected most of the company’s claims, limiting the recovery to less than 1% of the more than $1.7 billion Vulcan had sought in the case.
Vulcan said the tribunal found Mexico acted arbitrarily, without good faith or transparency and denied the company due process. The company also said the panel found Mexican environmental authorities improperly used regulatory powers to target Vulcan and block it from meaningfully defending itself in Mexican proceedings.
Mexico’s Economy Ministry characterized the result differently, emphasizing that the award covered only the 2018 El Corchalito closure. The ministry said the tribunal ruled differently on several claims: It found a NAFTA violation involving La Adelita and El Corchalito, but did not rule for Vulcan on matters involving La Rosita or port tariffs. The monetary award applied only to El Corchalito.
The arbitration began in 2018 after Vulcan, through its Mexican subsidiary Calizas Industriales del Carmen, or Calica, challenged closures and other government actions affecting its limestone-extraction business in Quintana Roo. Vulcan has operated in the region for decades, supplying construction aggregates from its quarry and deepwater port to customers in the United States.
The dispute escalated under former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Mexican authorities ordered the quarrying operation to halt in 2022, citing environmental damage. López Obrador accused the company of damaging cenotes and contaminating underground rivers through limestone mining below the water table. Vulcan has disputed those allegations and said Mexico’s actions amounted to an unlawful expropriation of its property.
Mexico’s government occupied Vulcan’s Punta Venado port facility in 2023, and the Mexican government later designated the company’s port and quarry property as part of a protected natural area. The designation prohibited Vulcan from continuing operations on the land, extending the conflict beyond the claims that resulted in the tribunal’s financial award.
Mexico has maintained that the tribunal’s ruling largely favored the government because it dismissed nearly all of Vulcan’s larger claims related to later actions against the company. Mexican officials said they were reviewing possible further legal steps while keeping discussions with Vulcan open.
The dispute has generated a sharp response in the United States, particularly from Alabama’s congressional delegation. In March, the House passed the Defending American Property Abroad Act of 2026, legislation that would allow a president to restrict access to U.S. ports by vessels that have used a port, harbor or marine terminal taken by a Western Hemisphere country with a U.S. free-trade agreement. The bill was received in the Senate on April 2 and has not become law.
All members of Alabama’s House delegation supported the measure. U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, said Vulcan had “attempted to use all existing legal and diplomatic options to resolve this situation,” while U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Birmingham, said Mexico’s actions raised concerns about property rights, supply chains and the reliability of trade agreements.
U.S. Sens. Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, along with Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty, also have argued that the conflict illustrates the need to preserve investment protections in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. In a 2025 opinion article, they said Mexico’s campaign against Vulcan had shut down the company’s operations and targeted its deepwater port, and they urged Congress to pass legislation discouraging foreign governments from seizing U.S.-owned infrastructure.
The tribunal’s award does not resolve whether Vulcan can reopen its quarry or regain control of its port and other property in Quintana Roo. Those questions remain at the center of the company’s broader disagreement with Mexico, even as the international ruling gives Vulcan a limited monetary recovery and a finding that Mexico breached NAFTA’s fair-treatment obligations.