Manufacturers are investing in Mexico

The U.S. Census Bureau's Quarterly Import/Export Statistics indicates that Mexico increased imports of U.S. packaging and processing machinery by more than 15% and that major companies like PepsiCo, Nestlé, and Cisco are planning to expand their business operations in the country.

By Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies February 7, 2014

Mexican manufacturers are the second-largest importers of U.S. packaging and processing machinery, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Quarterly Import/Export Statistics for Sept. 2013. The report notes changes of 15.79% (increasing to $48 million) for processing equipment and 10.43% for packaging machinery (increasing to $115 million) since the same period in 2012.

"By the end of the third quarter 2013, Mexico was second only to Canada in imports of U.S. packaging and processing machinery," said Enrique Guzman, director of the Latin America office of PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, the owner and producer of EXPO PACK México 2014 (Centro Banamex, Mexico City; June 17-20).

"Consumer packaged goods companies (CPGs) are speaking up and investing in Mexico. For example, in late January, at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, Nestlé and PepsiCo announced plans for expansion in Mexico over the next five years- PepsiCo plans to invest $5 billion and Nestlé plans to spend $1 billion," Guzman notes.

On Mexico’s economy, Guzman said, "Mexico’s middle class is expanding. And its economy is forecast to grow at 3.4% this year, making it the fastest-growing among the largest economies in North and South America.”

In addition, Cisco Systems Inc. has announced a $1.3 billion investment in Mexico in 2014, which is expected to generate more than 900 jobs. PepsiCo’s plan is expected to generate 4,000 new jobs, and Nestlé anticipates 700 direct jobs as a result of their new Mexican plants.

The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (PMMI)

www.pmmi.org 

– Edited by CFE Media. See more Control Engineering CNC and motion control stories.