After Months of Falls, Exports Break Superavit Record

April brought sharp falls in oil and non-oil exports in Mexico. Figures from Banco de México indicated that the country reported a drop of 40.9 percent year-on-year in value of exports, while oil exports plummeted 66.4 percent. In May, exports only deepened their fall reaching an annual dip of 56.7 percent. 

However, the month of June shines differently for Mexican exports. The value of exports totaled US$31.7 billion, which represented an increase of 75.6 percent compared to May, according to El Financiero with figures from INEGI. The increase in exports led Mexico to an unprecedented trade surplus, as the gap between exports and imports reached US$5.5 billion, a higher figure compared to the surplus of June 2019 of US$2.4 billion.

The surplus is mainly due to non-oil exports derived from agricultural, extractive and manufacturing activities that contributed just over 96 percent of the value. The rest is attributed to oil exports. INEGI specialists point out that this dynamism is due to the US having begun reactivating its commercial operations with Mexico and the world. In addition, automotive exports were the leaders in June as they contributed the most to the totla.

At the beginning of the month, Mexico and the US celebrated USMCA’s enforcement, which both countries hoped would be a trigger to encourage a post-pandemic recovery. This was especially true for Mexico, since approximately 80 percent of exports go to the US, according to INEGI. Although the great advances do not compensate for the hits Mexico has suffered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, they do provide a breath of fresh air to continue promoting the country's economic recovery.

At the same time, development and economic growth projects are emerging across the country. In an interview with La Jornada, Governor of Oaxaca Alejandro Murat explained that the Transisthmic Corridor, the modernization of the Salina Cruz port, the rehabilitation of the railway and the Veracruz-Oaxaca highway are expected to promote Mexico’s southeast to  become an economic hub before 2022. This mega project is expected to move up to 30 percent of the goods that go to Asian countries including China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapur, India and Thailand, which normally go through the Panama canal.

Furthermore, the Interoceanic Corridor is expected to connect through a 309km railway network, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, decreasing from seven to four hours the transfer time between Salina Cruz and Coatzacoalcos. It will be the shortest interoceanic highway in the continent, in addition to the Panama Canal, explained Juan Pablo Guzmán Cobián, Ministry of Economic Development of Oaxaca in an exclusive contribution to MBN. 

Gúzman classified the project as the most ambitious of Governor Murat's administration, representing more than just a railway. “The Interoceanic Corridor is, without a doubt, the most ambitious project of Governor Alejandro Murat Hinojosa, with a total investment of MX$20 billion (US$910 million). It will be developed over a surface of 36,000km2,” he said. “However, the Interoceanic is much more than a railway. It is a regional development project whose social and economic impact will be reflected in the entire south-southeast area of Mexico, benefiting 1.2 million inhabitants located in 788 urban locations, of whom 11,000 are indigenous households and 104,000 live in conditions of high or very high marginalization.”