TIJUANA (Border Report) — The maquiladora industry in Northern Baja California has been told its natural gas shipments will be interrupted over the next few days as the Mexican government is diverting supply to Northeast Mexico, which has been hit hard by cold weather that has been devastating Texas and other parts of the U.S.
The natural gas will be sent to communities in the states of Nuevo León, Tamaulipas and Chihuahua.
Some gas is also being provided to Mexico’s Federal Electric Commission so it can operate its plants and generate electricity.
“We’re estimating that supply will resume by Friday or Saturday of next week depending on climate conditions in that part of the country,” said Salvador Díaz González, member of the Otay Mesa Industrialist Group in Tijuana.
Díaz González said he doesn’t know exactly how plants and factories will be affected, he believes around 300 companies, including Hyundai, will see less natural gas.
“Companies might want to modify their equipment to see if they can run on other type of gas or alternative fuels,” he said. “This situation could hurt production if we can’t come up with a substitute, we’re hoping the weather changes, and we can all get back to normalcy.”