Mexico has developed its manufacturing sector with the dual objective of taking advantage of lower manufacturing costs and its common border with the United States, its main export trading partner.
Mexico's exports of products grew at an interannual rate of 14.7% in July, to US$ 54,788.6 million, driven by manufacturing, Inegi reported on Tuesday.
On the other hand, imports totaled US$ 54,860.5 million, with an increase of 13.3%, so the Aztec country registered a deficit of US$ 72 million in its trade balance.
Mexico has developed its manufacturing sector with the dual objective of taking advantage of lower manufacturing costs and its common border with the United States, its main export trading partner.
In the first seven months of this year, Mexico sold manufactured products abroad worth US$ 49,744.6 million, which represents an increase of 15.9% at an annual rate.
Broken down, automotive foreign sales were US$17,106.8 million and non-automotive sales were US$32,637.8 million, with increases of 7.2 and 21.1% in that order.
In perspective, the Mexican manufacturing industry has the basis to continue growing in the coming years, considering that the arrivals of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to this sector remain dominant.
Mexico attracted US$31.1 billion in FDI in the first half of 2024 and manufacturing captured 54% of these flows.
Within the manufacturing sector, the most significant increases were observed in exports of machinery and special equipment for various industries (53.2%), mining and metallurgical products (28.5%), electrical and electronic equipment and appliances (15.3%), food, beverages and tobacco (10.6%) and automotive products (7.2 percent).
The annual growth in automotive exports was driven by an 8.3% increase in sales to the United States and a 2.0% increase in sales to other markets.
In July 2024, the value of oil exports was US$ 2.5 billion. This amount was made up of US$ 1.896 billion in crude oil sales and US$ 604 million in exports of other petroleum products.
In that month, the average price of the Mexican crude oil export mix stood at US$74.86 per barrel, US$1.47 higher than the previous month and US$2.52 higher than in July 2023.
The volume of crude oil exported stood at 0.817 million barrels per day, higher than the 0.788 million barrels per day recorded in June, but lower than the 1.070 million barrels per day recorded in July 2023.
In the seventh month of this year, the value of agricultural and fishing exports was US$ 1,754 million, an amount that implies an annual increase of 16.9 percent.
The most significant increases were recorded in exports of:
- Cattle (94.6%)
- Citrus (38.9%)
- Avocado (31.1%)
- Tomato (22.7%)
- Fresh vegetables and legumes (9.1%)
In contrast, the most significant annual declines were seen in exports of fresh strawberries (53.8%), as well as grapes and raisins (23.3 percent).
Extractive exports stood at US$ 790 million, with an annual increase of 33.7 percent.
As regards foreign purchases, there was a 15.9% increase in non-oil imports and a 15.6% decrease in oil imports.
Considering imports by type of goods, annual increases of 16.5% were observed in imports of consumer goods, 13.3% in intermediate goods and 8.7% in capital goods.
In July 2024, and with seasonally adjusted figures, total merchandise exports registered a monthly increase of 5.78%, which originated from increases of 5.49% in non-oil exports and 12.45% in oil exports.
With seasonally adjusted data, total imports registered a monthly growth of 0.43%, which resulted from a 0.52% increase in non-oil imports and a 0.93% decrease in oil imports.
