GDP: + 2.6% in Q1 compared to 4.8% last year. Government officials claim that Banco de Mexico's recent hike in the benchmark interest rate to 7.25% was a rash decision in view of the weak economic growth. A rate of less than 3% indicates Mexico's dependency on exports to the US, where 80% of their exports go. As the growth in the US remains weak, so will the growth in Mexico.
Consumer Prices: + 4.0% in the last 12 months up to April
Industrial Production: + 0.2% in March
Unemployment: 3.5% in April
Trade Balance: - $10.2 bn in April for the latest twelve months
Automotive Production: a total of 152,712 units were produced in April or 11.8% ahead of last year's pace. Year-to-date at the end of April, 623,495 units were manufactured or 6.5% less than last year. Auto exports slipped 4.6% in April.
Steel Production: 1,390 (e) million mt in April compared to a revised 1.435 million mt in March, year-to-date April steel production in Mexico was 5.650 million mt or 6.4% ahead of last year's pace.
Currency: Peso 10.8 to US$1 as of May 30 (Peso 11.3 to US$1 a year ago)
GDP: + 0.3% in March and + 0.9% in Q1. Low as it may be, growth in Q1 was more than twice the pace of Q4.
Industrial Production: - 1.2% in February
Consumer Prices: + 2.2% in April
Unemployment: 6.1% in April
Trade Balance: + $46.3 billion March in latest 12 months
Automotive Production: 224,843 units were built in April or 5.6% ahead of last year. Year-to-date April, 914,675 units were manufactured or 1.9% ahead of last year's pace. Canada remains the only NAFTA country where automotive production has not diminished so far this year.
Steel Production: 1.015 (e) million mt in April, slightly below March. Year-to-date April, 5.261 million mt were produced or 22.7% behind last year's pace. As Stelco announced last Friday that it is available to be bought, Russian and Indian mills have immediately expressed their interest. Thus, Canada's last big steel mill in Canadian hands may soon disappear. The list looks as follows:
Ipsco - bought by SSAB in Sweden
Algoma - bought by Essar in India
Co-Steel - bought by Gerdau in Brazil
Harris Steel - bought by Nucor in the US
Sidbec - bought by Ispat, now Arcelor-Mittal
Currency: C$1.07 to US$1 as of May 30 (C$1.10 to US$1 last year); as the "loonie" seems to be inevitably approaching parity with the USD, economists are afraid that Canadian exports to the US will become increasingly uncompetitive.