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 Deceleration in US manufacturing activity
Manufacturing activity in US central region slowed down in July to its slowest pace. since last April, stagnated by a setback in new orders, in spite of the fact that personnel hiring went up. According to a survey made by Chicago's Purchase Managers Association, business activity dropped to 53.4 in July from 60.2 in June. A reading above 50 shows expansion, while a figure under said level shows shrinking.
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Solid growth in Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua
Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua, leader in cement production in its markets in. Mexico, the United States and Bolivia, published its consolidated results for the quarter ending on July 30, 2007. The solid growth in GCC's cement and concrete markets and the integration of concrete operations in the United States contributed to a two-digit increase in the Company's income. Also, a lower sales cost, combined with lower administration and sales expenses as a percentage of sales, generated larger operation profit margins and EBITDA.
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Sojo promotes Mexico among investors in China
The Minister of the Economy, Eduardo Sojo talked. before Chinese businessmen about the most important advantages of investing in Mexico, such as the country's significant economic stability, with low inflation and interest rates; as well as Mexico's access to more than one billion consumers in 44 countries that represent 75% of the world's Gross Domestic Product, informed the Ministry of the Economy in a press release dated in Shangai, China. The Ministry pointed-out that Mr. Sojo's conference took place in the Investment Opportunities Seminar organized by ProMexico in Shanghai.
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Manufacturing employment grows 0.9% in May: INEGI
Last May the labor force occupied in processing. manufacturing industry grew 0.9%, its lowest level in the last 12 months, informed the Mexican Statistics Agency, Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (INEGI). Employment in processing manufacturing sector had kept a growing trend above 1.0% up to last April, but in May it only grew 0.9%, a level similar to even month in 2006 (0.9%). In a press release INEGI informed that hour-men worked went up 1.4% in May and actual mean compensation paid reported a 2.2% increase when compared to the same month last year.
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Mexico manufactures Tundra's chassis
The Japanese Automotive Company Toyota will manufacture in Mexico., in a US$160 million joint-venture with the Mexican Company Metalsa, the chassis for Tundra truck assembled in the USA, in a plant that was inaugurated yesterday. With an investment over US$160 million Metalsa and Toyota have generated around 600 new jobs that will add to the 4 thousand jobs Metalsa already has in the region. Chris Nielsen, Toyota North America Purchases Vice-president, informed about the Alliance with the Mexican Company Metalsa to produce high quality chassis.
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Ford Cuautitlan will assemble vehicles for the USA
Within Ford Motor Company's strategy to produce small. cars and utility VANs in North America, similar to those assembled in Europe, Alan Mulolly, the Company's Chairman is planning to assign some of the new products to Ford de Mexico and their plant in Cuautitlan, State of Mexico. According to reports from Automotive New this week, Ford is analyzing the possibilities to create new platforms for Focus in a more modern version, as well as the substitute to Escape vans, which new basis could be produced in Mexico.
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Lenovo will open a plant in Monterrey
Lenovo Group Ltd announced today their plans to increase their computers production. by opening two new plants in Mexico and India, where they will invest US$30 million, PC World informed in its online edition. Monterrey's plant will produce portable computers and will be largest investment made by Lenovo outside China. The new plant is expected to start producing in the summer of 2008. The plant will have the capacity to produce 5 million computers every year and will employ 750 people to supply Latin America's market.
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Peñoles will have the first aeolic mine in the world
The Mexican Company Industrias Peñoles, the largest. refined silver manufacturer in the world, informed today that one of their mines in northern Mexico will operate only with aeolic technology as of 2009. Peñoles General Director, Jaime Lomelin, said in a press conference that this will be the first mine in the world to use wind energy. The Company will invest US$50 million to install an aeolic park in Bismark, a mine located in the northern state of Chihuahua, which produced 39,938 tons of zinc in 2006. In this zone, in the US border, "wind conditions are quite reliable", Mr. Lomelin pointed-out.
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ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
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Conference affirms Juarez as tops in maquilas
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By Louie Gilot
El Paso Times |
 Nuevo Laredo gets more trucks. Tijuana has more plants. But overall, Juárez is the top maquiladora center in Mexico.
That's the message of a conference, "Mexico's Maquiladora Industry Conference -- Nearshore Manufacturing, Best Management & Manufacturing Practices," to be held in El Paso next week.
"Of course, we're number one. Who's bigger than us?" said one of the conference speakers, Donald Michie, president of NAFTA Ventures Inc. and a professor of business management at UTEP.
Lidia Robles, comptroller of Robles International Services Inc., a maquila supplier in Santa Teresa, N.M., has been landing big contracts with Juárez plants.
"I don't know if we're number one, but look at new plants like Electrolux. Plants like that would never have come to Juárez if we weren't number one," she said.
The conference, to be held at the El Paso Marriott Hotel Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, is organized by the magazine MexicoNow and for the first time in years, it is not focused on outsourcing and competing with China or India. Longtime conference organizer Sergio Ornelas, the magazine's editor, said, "The business that has gone to China is gone. We can't do anything about that. We're focusing on Juárez now. I think the numbers are clear that Juárez is number one."
Signs of success are visible in almost all economic parameters about Juárez and the state of Chihuahua.
Maquila employment in Chihuahua, of which 80 percent can be credited to Juárez plants, represented 25.9 percent of Mexico's maquiladora employment in 2006, according to INEGI, the government's statistics office.
A year later, it was 26.7 percent and in 2008, it is expected to be 27.4 percent, according to calculations by Global Insight.
The next Mexican state in line is Baja California, home of Tijuana, with 20.1 percent of total ma quiladora employment, then Tamaulipas, home of Nuevo Laredo, with 15.4 percent, in 2007, according to Global Insight.
Tijuana is the only city with more manufacturing plants than Juárez, but those plants are smaller.
When it comes to direct foreign investment, Juárez was ahead of Tijuana in 2006 with $989.7 million, or 15 percent of total national direct foreign investment, according to the Mexican Economic Ministry.
As for transportation, El Paso's international cargo facilities are second only to Laredo's for volume with 774,000 northbound trucks in 2006, to Laredo's 1.5 million.
 Some experts said that Juárez was always the premier Mexican manufacturing center but things seem to be accelerating.
Just three years ago, Tijuana had been first for direct foreign investment. In Juárez, direct foreign investment went up 80 percent between 2003 and 2006, according to the Mexican Economic Ministry.
The year 2005 saw a significant injection of foreign investment in Juárez, topping $1 billion, according to statistics.
Many companies that recently relocated to the El Paso-Santa Teresa-Juárez region said they came for the central location between the two coasts.
But Michie said there is still a lot to do and many missed opportunities in the Juárez-El Paso manufacturing bubble, especially when it comes to border crossing.
While Laredo built three bridges in about 10 years and McAllen recently got a new bridge, nothing has happened in El Paso, Michie said.
 "We're way behind when it comes to port crossings," Michie said.
Michie also said that the region has failed to marry its high technology resources with its manufacturing abilities to secure a future.
This seems to be changing. Gary Lopez, plant manager at Cordis de Mexico, which makes catheters and stents in Juárez, said more and more high-tech companies are looking at Juárez as a viable manufacturing locale.
"The level of technology that is coming to the area is significant," said Lopez, who will also speak at next week's conference.
In a recent study of the maquiladora recovery after the 2000-2001 slump, economists with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said manufacturing employment levels are still below 2000 levels in Juárez and in Mexico. However, productivity has increased, causing output to recover fully and surpass the pre-crisis peak.
The industry is maturing "and leaving behind its roots as a low-wage industry," FedBank economists said.
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Louie Gilot may be reached at lgilot@elpasotimes.com; 546-6131.
Source: El Paso Times.
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MEXICO'S WEEKLY HEADLINES
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| » Sale of subcompact cars in Mexico falls 19.3%
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| » Lula wants to extend commerce and investments with Mexico |
| » Cementera Moctezuma will construct a plant in Veracruz |
| » Online TV service will be launched in Mexico |
| » Court of New York authorizes investment of US$2.5 billion in Delphi
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