Economic Overview: Mexico & Canada

Mexico: Trying to maintain momentum of the accelerated economic growth, Banco De Mexico maintained its low benchmark interest rate of 4.5 percent for the 14th straight month. Latest figures for industrial output give hope that Q3 will have grown equally as strong as in Q2. The central bank's strategy is helped by the muted inflation rate as of September. It is expected to come in decidedly under 5 percent for the year. Banco De Mexico has accumulated an average of US$600 million a month since last March in order to boost its foreign reserves. In another sign of recovery, Ford Motor Company has re-opened a plant in Cuautitlán where they will build 2011 Ford Fiestas. This is in sharp contrast to the US where Ford has closed four plants since 2006 and will close another four by the end of 2011.
 
Canada: In economic terms, this past summer in Canada was not a good one. Manufacturing took a dive, decreasing by 0.7 percent.  Housing activities-both in sales as well as construction-were declining and prospects are not encouraging in the short term. The weaker than expected recovery in the US is clearly a concern for Canadian exporters and so is the strengthening currency. At one time, the "loonie" (the Canadian nickname for their dollar) reached parity with the US dollar. All of this contributed to the central bank's decision to leave the benchmark interest rate at 1 percent. The forecast for economic growth was revised down to 3.0 percent for this year and 2.3 percent for 2011.

Intra NAFTA Steel Shipments: Latest available numbers include June of this year. The strong increase in shipping volume continues, reflecting a recovering economy in all three member states. The annual shipping volume at the end of June was almost 10 percent higher than the comparable number at the end of April.
 
General Data:

Automotive and Steel Production:

*e = estimated

Total Intra NAFTA Steel Shipments Last 12 months Jul 2009-Jun 2010, in thousand metric tons: