While many industries are struggling in the current down economy, aerospace continues to post robust results in Mexico. Aerospace manufacturing and support services in the country have grown from a relatively minor industry in the 1990s to become one of the world’s leaders by 2010. Particularly in recent years, as the momentum of clusters grew, the industry has exploded from about 60 companies in 2004 to over 200 currently. Export sales are projected at US$3.4 billion for 2009, and are expected to exceed US$4 billion in 2010.
Tijuana, the center of one of Mexico’s aerospace clusters, will host a forum in March to bring together aircraft manufacturers and suppliers of the parts and components they need. The event will feature a conference series as well as one-on-one matchmaking meetings. Full information and registration can be found here:
Mexico has taken a drubbing from China over the past decade in the attraction of foreign investment in manufacturing, maquiladora and otherwise. While Mexico has by no means been abandoned by North American and Asian manufacturers, China became a veritable Klondike for foreign manufactures seeking to lower production costs in the early 2000’s. But a recent story in Reforma reinforces our own anecdotal evidence that Mexico may be in the process of recovering some of the FDI that drank the China Kool-Aid over the past few years.
As 2009 draws to a close, Mexico, like many countries, will be happy to see the back of this year. Not only did 2009 see the worst economic decline in decades, but the steep recession was exacerbated by the outbreak of the H1N1 flu in April, which had a devastating effect on tourism and, to a lesser degree, business travel. Mexico’s deep economic integration with the United States is a key motor for the economy, and as a result, the contraction of demand for vehicles and other durable goods in the U.S.A. hit Mexico’s productive sector hard. The first two quarters of the year were practically catastrophic, as the precipitous dropoff in demand for vehicles led to layoffs and temporary plant closings in Mexico’s large vehicle manufacturing industry. Tourism, hit by the one-two punch of the slumping U.S. economy and then the flu outbreak in April, is showing tepid signs of recovery, but the sector is still expected to close the year approximately 20% below 2008 levels.