Anheuser-Busch InBev subsidiary Grupo Modelo said it will invest approximately $328 million – or roughly 5 billion pesos – to construct a new brewery and can production plant in Yucatán, Mexico.
The company first detailed plans to expand in January, at the time saying it would spend $146.8 million to construct a new brewery in Yucatán’s Hunucmá municipality. The new brewery, Reuters had reported, would enable the company to increase production capacity by over 8 percent.
During an event this past Friday, however, Grupo Modelo CEO Ricardo Tadeu revealed the company’s plans to spend an additional $182.1 million to build out the canning facility. The plant, according to the Wall Street Journal, will be capable of producing 1 billion cans per year and enable the company to halt importing cans and begin exporting them.
Construction on the two plants is slated to begin in the second half of this year, Tadeu reportedly said at the event. Once complete, Grupo Modelo will own and operated eight breweries in Mexico.
A-B InBev’s revenues increased 8.1 percent in Mexico during the first quarter of 2015, according to its quarterly earnings report. Volume was up 2.1 percent, while revenue per hectoliter increased 5.9 percent. Worldwide, Corona volume was up 2.7 percent, driven by growth not only in Mexico, but Canada, Australia, and Italy. In April, Constellation Brands — which owns the import rights to the Grupo Modelo portfolio in the U.S. — also announced a net sales increase of 12 percent for its beer portfolio during fiscal 2015.
In addition to Corona, Grupo Modelo manufactures Pacifico, Victoria, Tropical, Modelo, Montejo, as well as select brands from A-B’s portfolio, according to its website.