ABSTRACT
The exploration of sulphur-bearing salt domes in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico began during World War II but commercial exploration was not initiated until 1954. By 1964 Mexico had become the world’s largest exporter of sulphur, selling abroad close to 2 million tons of elemental sulphur in that year—30 percent of world brimstone trade. This history of Mexico’s sulphur industry follows closely the highly successful operations of the Pan American Sulphur Company (Pasco), which initiated commercial production and in 1966 controlled four-fifths of Mexico’s sulphur output and exports. However, recent years have witnessed growing frictions between the sulphur industry working almost exclusively for foreign markets and the Mexican government interested in securing an abundant supply of this commodity for Mexico’s domestic industrial effort. The ensuing conflict reached serious proportions in 1965, when the Mexican authorities implemented strict regulations of sulphur exports on the grounds that the companies neglected exploration activities and depleted known reserves. Reflecting the change that took place at the beginning of the 1960s in the official policies toward future mining concessions, the resolution of the sulphur problem has taken the form of a bid by the Mexican government and a group of Mexican private investors for 66 percent of the stock of Pasco’s operating subsidiaries in Mexico and elsewhere. Final arrangements for the new joint venture with Pasco were completed in 1967. Meanwhile, new sulphur companies involving American-owned sulphur properties were being established with the majority participation of Mexican capital.
