Kansas City Southern de Mexico

Mexican SAT Action Rather Ambiguous

In a July 19 press release, the Government of Mexico, through the Ministries of Energy, Finance and the Tax Administration Service (SAT), made public a list of active and suspended taxpayers on its Importers’ Registry, indicating that the suspensions were made due to several taxpayers apparently not being in full compliance with requirements under its Foreign Trade Rules. Among them were Kansas City Southern de México (KCSM) and Grupo Mexico’s Ferrosur rail freight subsidiary.

Commentary

Chess Game for Railroad Real Estate (UPDATED)

A bidding war has broken out for the Kansas City Southern, but it’s actually more like a chess game. Here are some observations about what it all could mean, especially in terms of railroad “real estate,” from my economist observation post.

OmniTRAX: Building Business in Brownsville

OmniTRAX is bringing the Rail-Ready Sites program to its 45-mile Brownsville & Rio Grande International Railway (BRG) in Cameron County, Texas. The Broe Group affiliate is partnering with Greater Brownsville Economic Development Corp. (GBEDC) to connect rail-served properties with customers interested in locating in the area—near the Port of Brownsville and Mexico.

Flores Promoted to KCS VP Automotive and Intermodal Sales

Kansas City Southern (KCS) has promoted Rodrigo Flores from Vice President Automotive to Vice President Automotive and Intermodal Sales, effective Sept. 1, 2020. In this expanded role, Flores will be responsible for the automotive and intermodal business units in the U.S. and Mexico.

Mexican Rail Regulators Turn Up The Heat

The Rail Transportation Regulatory Agency of Mexico (ARTF), described as “a decentralized body of the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation,” established, nearly 25 years after the country’s national railroad was privatized, rate regulations for its three railroad concessions—Ferrocarril Mexicano, SA de CV (Ferromex), Ferrosur, SA de CV, and Kansas City Southern de México, SA de CV (KSCM).

Commentary

Mexico’s Rail Freight Model Still Relevant

Mexico has a freight railway system owned by the national government. However, the trains and the network are operated and managed by various private entities under concessions (charters) granted by the national government. Today, Mexico has service from eight concessionaire railway companies. Beyond Kansas City Southern de México, and Ferromex, are the smaller, but important Ferrosur, Ferrovalle, Coahuila-Durango, Ferrocarril Chiapas Mayab, Ferrocarril del Istmo and Ferrocarril Tijuana-Tecate.

USMCA, In Force, Offers Challenges, Opportunities

As the U.S.-Mexico-Canadian trade agreement (USMCA) officially becomes the governing statute for commerce across North America, Marc Brazeau, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Railway Association of Canada (RAC), Iker de Luisa Plazas, Director General of Asociacion Mexicana de Ferrocarriles (AMF) and Ian Jefferies, President and CEO of the Association of American Railroads (AAR) issued the following statement:

KCS Updates 2019 Sustainability Report

Kansas City Southern (KCS) has released a 2019 sustainability data update to its sustainability report, “For the Long Haul: Delivering Prosperity, Valuing People, Protecting the Planet,” which shows the Class I railroad improved its U.S. and Mexico consolidated reportable train accident frequency ratio and consolidated reportable injury frequency ratio, and reduced its use of diesel fuel.

Commentary

KCS Isn’t For Sale. Quit Salivating

If I had a $100,000 for every time the rumor mill shouted out that Kansas City Southern was on the auction block, I’d be a multi-millionaire with a collection of exotic cars rivaling that of Jay Leno, and racing a Corvette C8.R in the IMSA Series, with my son Craig as crew chief. (I wouldn’t own a private railcar, because Amtrak wouldn’t want to haul it around the country, and if they did, they’d probably overcharge me. But that’s another story.)

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