Exportadora de Sal S.A.

Last updated

Exportadora de Sal
IndustrySalt production
FoundedApril 7, 1954;69 years ago (1954-04-07)
Founder Daniel K. Ludwig
Headquarters
Guerrero Negro
,
Mexico
Website www.essa.com.mx

Exportadora de Sal S.A. (abbreviated as ESSA) is a company dedicated to salt production through solar evaporation of sea water in the Ojo de Liebre Lagoon, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Founded in 1954 by American shipping businessman Daniel K. Ludwig, it is currently partially owned by the Mexican government and Mitsubishi. It is one of the largest sea-salt extraction and processing operations in the world.

Contents

History

Rudimentary extraction of the natural salt deposits formed by the flooding and subsequent evaporation of the low parts of the Ojo de Liebre Lagoon (also known as Scammon's Lagoon) had been ongoing for several decades. American shipping magnate Daniel K. Ludwig obtained a concession from the Mexican government, formally starting the company on April 7, 1954. [1] That date is also the official founding date of the town of Guerrero Negro, which was created to house workers for the new company and grew around it. [2] Ludwig bought the interest of British companies who were the first to exploit the saltworks commercially, and by 1963 he had invested US$63 million, reaching an annual salt production output of 5,000,000 metric tons (4,900,000 long tons; 5,500,000 short tons) in the 1970s. [3] The project became the largest salt works facility in the world and included the construction of a deep-water port to ship the salt in Puerto Morro Redondo, Cedros Island. [4] The company diked the shallow tidal flats around Ojo de Liebre lagoon, creating multiple artificial evaporating ponds, eventually covering an area of about 300 square miles (780 km2). [5]

Salt transporters in Guerrero Negro Salt production in Guerrero Negro.jpg
Salt transporters in Guerrero Negro

In the 1960s Japanese corporation Mitsubishi became the main customer of ESSA and purchased the entire company in 1973 for US$18 million, taking over operations. [6] It is possible that Ludwig's decision to sell was motivated by rumors of a potential expropriation of the company by the centralist government of President Luis Echeverría (1970-1976). [7] In 1976 a new mining law forced Mitsubishi to sell 26% of its stock to the Mexican government, after it had previously sold 25%. [8] Since then ESSA has been jointly owned by the Mexican government (51%) and Mitsubishi (49%), with the company holding exclusive rights to sell the salt. [9] As of 2014 Exportadora de Sal S.A. was referred as the largest salt works, salt producer and exporter in the world, with an yearly output of 8 million tons, constituting around half of Japan's salt imports. [10] [11] Salt exported by ESSA is mainly used in the chemical industry for the production of caustic soda, chlorine and sodium carbonate. [12] [13]

After Gregorio Cavazos Rodríguez quit as ESSA's general director in March 2022, serving in the role for a year, Raúl Franco Morones was named director. [14] [15]

Operations

Sea water is pumped into the collection ponds for initial evaporation, with the brine solution moved afterwards to crystallization ponds to finish drying up. The resulting mineral salt is transported in large dumping trucks to Chaparrito Port near Guerrero Negro to be cleaned and loaded into barges. [5] These barges can carry up to 10,500 metric tons (10,300 long tons; 11,600 short tons) of salt to Morro Redondo, where it is inspected, stored and finally exported in ocean-going vessels. [16]

Corruption controversies

Jorge Humberto López Portillo, general director of ESSA from July 2013 to December 2014, was prosecuted for irregularities such as purchasing a new barge for US$27.2 million and signing 30-year contracts with Packsys for residual brine treatment, both actions taken without administrative committee authorization. [17] [18] Packsys sued for breach of contract, but ESSA, represented by law firm O'Melveny, got the case dismissed. [19] López Portillo was banned from civil service for ten years although he contested this and claimed innocence and political persecution. Fellow Institutional Revolutionary Party member Abel Salgado Peña formally requested that López Portillo be expelled from the party due to the accusations of corruption. [20]

In January 2019 Nonato Antonio Avilés Rocha was named by President Andres Manuel López Obrador as ESSA's general director. Avilés Rocha quit in January 2021, after it was found that he gave contracts to companies owned by his cousins and nephews, increased executive salaries above approved limits, signed off unjustified expenses and paid for services that were not provided. [21] Irregular salt sales were also detected. [22]

Environmental impact

In 1994, seeking to increase its production output, ESSA proposed an expansion of its facilities into the nearby San Ignacio Lagoon which is part of El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve, a whale and migratory bird sanctuary. After Serge Dedina, founder of Wildcoast, exposed these plans, a opposition campaign was carried out by prominent intellectuals, artists, and several NGOs such as the Natural Resources Defense Council in the United States and the Group of 100 in Mexico. [23] Poet and activist Homero Aridjis, leader of the Group of 100, denounced the potential impact of the project, such as salinity reduction due to the extraction of 462 million metric tons of water from the lagoon, affecting plant and animal life. [24] The opposition effort was successful, culminating with Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo announcing in March 2000 the abandonment of the project. [25]

In 1998 CorpWatch accused Mitsubishi of greenwashing due to "their ongoing public relations initiative to convince the world that it is environmentally benign, as well as socially and economically desirable to establish the largest industrial salt evaporation facility in the world in a lagoon that is the last pristine calving ground of the California gray whale". [26] In 1999 conservation groups including Greenpeace Mexico submitted a formal accusation to the Mexican government against ESSA for environmental law violations. [27] The increased death of green sea turtles ( Chelonia mydas) at Ojo de Liebre lagoon has been potentially linked to the dumping of bitterns by ESSA. [28]

A dispute concerning the disposal of the residual brine solution arose between ESSA, local people and environmental activists. Following exhortations from the Mexican Congress, in 2019 the company invested 200 million pesos in a new pumping system to dispose of the residual brine. [29]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baja California Sur</span> State of Mexico

Baja California Sur, officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California Sur, is the least populated state and the 31st admitted state of the 32 federal entities which comprise the 31 States of Mexico. It is also the ninth-largest Mexican state in terms of area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sea salt</span> Salt produced from the evaporation of seawater

Sea salt is salt that is produced by the evaporation of seawater. It is used as a seasoning in foods, cooking, cosmetics and for preserving food. It is also called bay salt, solar salt, or simply salt. Like mined rock salt, production of sea salt has been dated to prehistoric times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitsubishi Corporation</span> Japanese trading company

Mitsubishi Corporation is Japan's largest trading company and a member of the Mitsubishi keiretsu. As of 2022, Mitsubishi Corporation employs over 80,000 people and has ten business segments, including energy, industrial finance, banking, machinery, chemicals, and food.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel K. Ludwig</span> American businessman (1897–1992)

Daniel Keith Ludwig was an American shipping businessman, who was also involved in many other industries. He pioneered the construction of super tankers in Japan, founded Exportadora de Sal, SA in Mexico and developed it as the largest salt company in the world, built a model community in association with the Jari project, which he pioneered, on the Amazon River in Brazil to produce pulp paper, and had numerous hotels around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salt evaporation pond</span> Shallow artificial pond designed to extract salts from sea water or other brines,

A salt evaporation pond is a shallow artificial salt pan designed to extract salts from sea water or other brines. The salt pans are shallow and expansive, allowing sunlight to penetrate and reach the seawater. Natural salt pans are formed through geological processes, where water evaporating, leaving behind salts deposits. Some salt evaporation ponds are only slightly modified from their natural version, such as the ponds on Great Inagua in the Bahamas, or the ponds in Jasiira, a few kilometres south of Mogadishu, where seawater is trapped and left to evaporate in the sun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of salt</span> Role in human culture

Salt, also referred to as table salt or by its chemical formula NaCl, is an ionic compound made of sodium and chloride ions. All life depends on its chemical properties to survive. It has been used by humans for thousands of years, from food preservation to seasoning. Salt's ability to preserve food was a founding contributor to the development of civilization. It helped eliminate dependence on seasonal availability of food, and made it possible to transport food over large distances. However, salt was often difficult to obtain, so it was a highly valued trade item, and was considered a form of currency by certain people. Many salt roads, such as the Via Salaria in Italy, had been established by the Bronze Age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baja California desert</span> Desert ecoregion of the Baja California Peninsula of Mexico

The Baja California desert is a desert ecoregion of Mexico's Baja California peninsula. This ecoregion occupies the western portion of the Baja California peninsula, and occupies most of the Mexican states of Baja California Sur and Baja California. It covers 77,700 square kilometers. The climate is dry, but its proximity of the Pacific Ocean provides humidity and moderates the temperature. The flora mostly consists of xeric shrubs and over 500 species of recorded vascular plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Briquetage</span> Coarse ceramic material used to make evaporation vessels

Briquetage or very coarse pottery (VCP) is a coarse ceramic material used to make evaporation vessels and supporting pillars used in extracting salt from brine or seawater. Thick-walled saltpans were filled with saltwater and heated from below until the water had boiled away and salt was left behind. Often, the bulk of the water would be allowed to evaporate in salterns before the concentrated brine was transferred to a smaller briquetage vessel for final reduction. Once only salt was left, the briquetage vessels would have to be broken to remove the valuable commodity for trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guerrero Negro</span> Town in Baja California Sur, Mexico

Guerrero Negro is the largest town located in the municipality of Mulegé in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur (BCS). It had a population of 13,596 in the 2020 census. The town is served by Guerrero Negro Airport.

<i>Fleur de sel</i> Type of sea salt, used as a garnish

Fleur de sel or flor de sal is a salt that forms as a thin, delicate crust on the surface of seawater as it evaporates. Fleur de sel has been collected since ancient times, and was traditionally used as a purgative and salve. It is now used as a finishing salt to flavor and garnish food. The origin of the name is uncertain, but is perfectly in line with both meanings of fleur: the surface of something and its best part; the fact the salt crust also might form flower-like patterns of crystals might be of influence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saltern</span> Area or installation for making salt

A saltern is an area or installation for making salt. Salterns include modern salt-making works (saltworks), as well as hypersaline waters that usually contain high concentrations of halophilic microorganisms, primarily haloarchaea but also other halophiles including algae and bacteria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open-pan salt making</span> Brine derivative

Open-pan salt making is a method of salt production wherein salt is extracted from brine using open pans.

Bittern, or nigari, is the salt solution formed when halite precipitates from seawater or brines. Bitterns contain magnesium, calcium, and potassium ions as well as chloride, sulfate, iodide, and other ions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Caracol, Ecatepec</span>

El Caracol Solar Evaporation Pond, also known as El Caracol de Texcoco or "El Caracol de la Ciudad de México, is a large spiral-shaped retention basin located over the former lakebed of Lake Texcoco, northeast of Mexico City, in the municipio of Ecatepec de Morelos, Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hutt Lagoon</span> Marine salt lake near the coast of Western Australia

Hutt Lagoon is a marine salt lake located near the Indian Ocean coast 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of the mouth of the Hutt River, in the Mid West region of Western Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ojo de Liebre Lagoon</span> Coastal lagoon in Baja California Sur, Mexico

Ojo de Liebre Lagoon, translated into English as "hare eye lagoon", is a coastal lagoon located in Mulegé Municipality near the town of Guerrero Negro in the northwestern Baja California Sur state of Mexico. It lies approximately halfway between the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula and the U.S.-Mexico border, opening onto the Pacific Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Melville Scammon</span>

Charles Melville Scammon (1825–1911) was a 19th-century whaleman, naturalist, and author. He was the first to hunt the gray whales of both Laguna Ojo de Liebre and San Ignacio Lagoon, the former also known as "Scammon's Lagoon" after him. In 1874 he wrote the book The Marine Mammals of the North-western Coast of North America, which was a financial failure. It is now considered a classic.

Jorge Humberto López Portillo Basave is a Mexican politician from the Institutional Revolutionary Party. From 2009 to 2012 he served as Deputy of the LXI Legislature of the Mexican Congress representing Jalisco. In 2011 he was named as the first Secretary of a newly created Office for Migrant Affairs in the party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwest Mexican Coast mangroves</span>

The Northern Mesoamerican Pacific Mangroves is a mangrove ecoregion of the southern Baja California Peninsula and coastal Sonora and northern Sinaloa states in northwestern Mexico. They are the northernmost mangroves on the Pacific Coast of North America and the region is transitional between tropical and temperate seas.

Rodolfo Garayzar Anaya was a Mexican politician and trade unionist. He served in the X Legislature of the Congress of Baja California Sur from 2002 to 2005 as a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

References

  1. ↑ "EXPORTADORA DE SAL, S.A. DE C.V." Exportadora de Sal SA de CV. February 4, 2015. Archived from the original on June 19, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  2. ↑ Castro Castro, Arturo. "Crónica de las salinas y ESSA". Crónicas de Sal y Arena. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  3. ↑ Niemann, Greg (2002). Baja Legends: The Historic Characters, Events, and Locations That Put Baja California on the Map. Sunbelt Publications, Inc. p. 176. ISBN   978-0-932653-47-5.
  4. ↑ McNamara, James (April 24, 2020). "Maritime History Notes: Daniel K. Ludwig — father of the supertanker". American Shipper. Archived from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Niemann, Greg. "White Salt, Gray Whales, and the Black Warrior - Baja Travel Adventures". Baja Bound Insurance Services. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  6. ↑ Yemma, John (June 24, 1979). "Japanese Trading Companies Give Nation Its Export Punch". The Washington Post .
  7. ↑ Peralta Delgado, Noé (February 26, 2021). "La corrupción que carcome a la salinera de Guerrero Negro". Culco: Cultura y Comunicación de Baja California Sur (in Spanish). Archived from the original on September 25, 2022. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  8. ↑ "ESSA, un marcado contraste de ganancias en Baja California Sur". Eje Central (in Spanish). July 31, 2021. Archived from the original on September 25, 2022. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  9. ↑ "La historia de ESSA y Mitsubishi". Opportimes (in Spanish). March 30, 2022. Archived from the original on July 4, 2022. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Essa, la salinera más grande del mundo en México". 20 Minutos (in Mexican Spanish). February 16, 2014. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  11. ↑ Magaña, Omar (2014). "Mexican salt: Heritage and opportunity". Negocios ProMéxico Febrero: The Mining Industry in México. ProMéxico. pp. 42–43.
  12. ↑ "A covenant of salt". The Economist. September 10, 2015. ISSN   0013-0613. Archived from the original on July 4, 2022. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  13. ↑ Barber Kuri, Carlos Miguel (2007). "The Salt Industry In Mexico". Journal of Business Case Studies. 3 (3): 67–80.
  14. ↑ "Renuncia el Director de Exportadora de Sal". Peninsular Digital (in Spanish). March 25, 2022. Archived from the original on July 16, 2022. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Ratifican a director de Exportadora de Sal". www.reforma.com (in Spanish). March 28, 2022. Archived from the original on July 16, 2022. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  16. ↑ Rhoda, Richard; Burton, Tony (February 12, 2015). "Why is the world's largest salt-works in Baja California Sur?". Geo-Mexico. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  17. ↑ "No hay persecución política contra ex Director de ESSA". Peninsular Digital (in Spanish). October 18, 2016. Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  18. ↑ Arellano García, César (April 11, 2022). "Confirman sanción contra ex director de Exportadora de Sal". La Jornada (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Case Study - Exportadora de Sal, S.A. de C.V. (ESSA)". O'Melveny. Archived from the original on September 26, 2022. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  20. ↑ "Abel Salgado exige expulsión de Jolopo". El Respetable (in Spanish). August 20, 2016. Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  21. ↑ Cabrera, Ángel (February 28, 2022). "Hallan anomalías por 789 mdp en empresa dirigida por morenista". 24 Horas (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  22. ↑ Andrade, Frida (February 23, 2022). "Detectan la venta irregular de sal". Reforma (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 16, 2022. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  23. ↑ Slovic, Scott; Rangarajan, Swarnalatha; Sarveswaran, Vidya (February 1, 2019). Routledge Handbook of Ecocriticism and Environmental Communication. Routledge. p. 396. ISBN   978-1-351-68270-1.
  24. ↑ Aridjis, Homero. "El silencio de las ballenas". Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 13, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  25. ↑ Reynolds, Joel (March 6, 2020). "Saving Laguna San Ignacio: 20 Years and Counting". NRDC. Archived from the original on July 13, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  26. ↑ Karliner, Joshua (March 1, 1998). "Mitsubishi and Laguna San Ignacio". Corpwatch. Archived from the original on July 4, 2022. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  27. ↑ Spalding, Mark (March 1999). "Environmental Groups formally accuse Exportadora de Sal, S.A. (ESSA) of Environmental Criminal Violations at its Guerrero Negro Saltworks". Planeta. Archived from the original on August 30, 2008. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  28. ↑ Tovar, Luis Raúl; Gutiérrez, Ma Eugenia; Cruz, Guillermo (September 2002). "Fluoride content by ion chromatography using a suppressed conductivity detector and osmolality of bitterns discharged into the Pacific Ocean from a saltworks: feasible causal agents in the mortality of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the Ojo de Liebre lagoon, Baja California Sur, Mexico". Analytical Sciences: The International Journal of the Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry. 18 (9): 1003–1007. doi:10.2116/analsci.18.1003. ISSN   0910-6340. PMID   12243394.
  29. ↑ Aguirre, Alberto (January 3, 2022). "Detrás de disputa por ESSA". El Economista. Archived from the original on July 8, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.