Mexico is currently immersed in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). What is your opinion about this?

I foresee that the near future will be complicated and uncertain, because depending on the direction that these talks will take, investment and the value of our currency against the dollar will be affected. Many businesses, including ours, depend a lot on their sales to the United States.

In our line of business, which is chemical, the US has a positive trade balance with Mexico, and businesses from that country do not want NAFTA to end.

If we consider the industry in general, you realise the high dependency that Mexico has on the US and the lack of development, which is necessary, of trade with Europe and Latin America.

Speaking of reforms within the deal – how could these affect or benefit Mexico?

We are weighing up the possibility of installing plants in the United States or expanding our presence in Brazil, and we are considering this because Pemex has stopped supplying raw materials. If there are no raw materials we can’t operate, and in the US there are. The Mexican petrochemical industry is working at 50% because of a lack of raw materials.

In Mexico, the petrochemical industry relies on ethanol in the production of most of its products. Ethanol is obtain from natural gas. Pemex did not invest sufficiently in the past in obtaining natural gas because it was more profitable to invest solely in petroleum. The US, on the other hand, developed in shale gas and now has ethanol in abundance which it even exports.

Tell us about Plastiglas.

Unigel is a Brazilian consortium, the second-largest petrochemical group in Brazil. It began operations in 1966, and is the leader in Latin America for styrene, polystyrene and the whole acrylic range.

In 2006 Unigel acquired a Plastiglas plant in Mexico owned by DESC Group, where they make moulded cell cast acrylic sheets. Our operation is done in consignments and we make a wide range of high quality products for different sectors and clients. Unigel reached an agreement with Pemex to revive the acrylic chain in the country by investing in one of its disused plants in 2007. Due to low production in the country’s refineries we had to abandon the operation of this plant and others, and now we import raw materials from Brazil. Mexican industry is in part suffering because there is no ethanol, which is obtained from natural gas, and we are suffering from a lack of products that are generated in refining.

Fortunately, thanks to the products sent to us by Unigel Brazil, Plastiglas maintains operations without affecting domestic or international clients (we export 65% of our product).

We are leaders because we make varied and highly specialised products of a high quality, for which we won the National Quality Award in 2016.

In Mexico we operate under the name Plastiglas and in the US and other parts of the world we are known as Chemcast, which are both renowned in their respective markets.

What are your competitive advantages?

Time, quality, service and a range of products under a flexible production model. Our plan is to develop in specialised fields. Nowadays we produce sheets for sports stadiums such as hockey, sheets for armour-plating against firearm bullets, sheets that are safe for contact with food, sheets for high impact. In the US our sheets are used in the marine sector.

What are your ecological policies?

Our waste, both our own and our clients’ (including international clients), is recycled, for which we have our own plant. We are a business that is certified in terms of social responsibility.

Could you tell us about the 3D element of the industry that China has been exploring? What is your opinion?

We are currently developing a new product called líkida. Clients will be able to use it to make products in 3D. Within the next 5 years it will already be being tested in many sectors related to construction.

What separates you from the rest?

Service, products bespoke for the needs of clients, and on-time delivery. We are also on the cutting edge in research and development. Mexico boasts the Applied Chemistry Research Centre (CONACYT) and important facilities in different universities, which we are able to take advantage of.