MEXICO CITY--Paper-goods maker Kimberly-Clark de Mexico SAB
(KIMBER.MX) said Monday that a fire damaged its Morelia mill on
Friday in the state of Michoacan, but that none of its personnel
were injured.
The manufacturer of products such as Huggies diapers and Kleenex
tissues said that while investigations into the cause of the fire
continue, preliminary reports point to a short circuit.
The company doesn't expect the blaze will have a material impact
on its financial results, as the installations were insured and
Kimberly-Clark has available production capacity at 11
manufacturing sites. The damaged property represents less than 3%
of the company's fixed assets.
In May, also in the state of Michoacan, a criminal group calling
itself the Knights Templar allegedly set fire to warehouses and
delivery trucks belonging to PepsiCo Inc.'s (PEP) Mexican snacks
division, Sabritas.
It was suggested in various media outlets that the Knights
Templar attacked Sabritas because the group thought Mexican
authorities were using the multinational company's extensive fleet
of delivery trucks to gather intelligence on drug cartels.
Mexico's Interior Ministry said last week in a statement that no
information points to the Sabritas vehicles having been used for
anything other than snack-product deliveries.
Write to Amy Guthrie at amy.guthrie@dowjones.com.