Mexico suspends sugar mill auction

Mexico on Tuesday suspended the sale of five state-held sugar mills after a judge signed an injunction brought by the former owners to suspend the auction. The court's decision does not cancel the sale of the mills, which together produce around 10 percent of Mexico's sugar output, but it does postpone the auction for a few days, said Javier Dorantes, one of the government officials charged with managing the sale. He did not specify for how many days.
In June, Mexico auctioned off four state sugar mills, selling them for a total of 3.28 billion pesos ($213 million), but the tender for five other mills was declared void after no bids were presented. The tender of the nine sugar mills, which together produce about one quarter of Mexico's annual output, is the latest step in an effort to unwind a government take-over of the mills that began over a decade ago. Mexico expropriated 27 mills in 2001 due to major financial problems with the plants, and has since been gradually selling them to private operators.