Birmingham-based Vulcan Materials is rejecting what it calls the “illegal expropriation” of its operations in Mexico after rejecting an offer for the property that the company says “substantially undervalues” its holdings there.

It’s the latest chapter in an ongoing dispute between the Mexican government and the company over its mining unit in Quintana Roo on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Reuters is reporting that Vulcan says it remains open to a negotiated solution over the installation.

In March 2023, the Mexican government seized the facility, despite a court ordered stay on any government action to confiscate the property.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador threatened to declare the property a natural protected area or seize it by force if Vulcan doesn’t accept a $360 million offer for the gravel pits before he leaves office.

López Obrador has accused the company of extracting materials without the proper permit and environmental damage. Vulcan contends Mexico wants the property, which Vulcan estimates is worth more than $1 billion, to convert it for tourism, and cruise ship and naval operations.

Last week, López Obrador said that the site had not been seized, but only closed at least until he leaves office in October.

In a statement, Vulcan described the actions as “authoritarian.”

“The truth is that at no time have we received a ‘generous offer’ to buy our property,” Vulcan stated. “We were given an informal appraisal, without signatures and without details, that substantially undervalues our assets, including the limestone reserves of which we own under Mexican law, as well as the only deep draft port in the region.”