The Chamber of the Transformation Industry (Caintra) of Nuevo León indicated that Monterrey companies have lower growth in their production due to obstacles such as the political panorama, weak economic activity and lower external demand, according to a survey.
“The political panorama factor returned to occupy the number one place among the obstacles, with 42.45 percent of the responses, an increase of 8.5 percentage points compared to the month of November,” according to the Economic Expectations of Manufacturing December 2024 published this Monday.
According to the survey carried out among the industry with operations in the metropolitan area of Monterrey, “weak economic activity” occupied the second position of obstacles, since almost 4 out of 10 companies indicate that this factor affected them.
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Lower external demand is another obstacle for companies at the end of 2024, after 28 percent of those surveyed selected it as a factor that directly affects their operations.
Respondents continue to report that a shortage of trained personnel hinders their performance, at 28.8 percent.
Caintra pointed out that the indicator of companies that invest in construction, machinery and equipment has been falling for three months in a row, that is, 28 percent report having allocated capital to modernize their operations. In December the investment indicator was the third lowest figure of last year.
Unlike production, price indicators remained above 50 points, where the “raw material prices” index reached 58.17 units.
During December, Nuevo León manufacturing once again experienced a reduction in its economic activity indicators.
While October signaled a rebound, November and December reflected that activity was weak during the close of the year.
“It is important to note that Nuevo León manufacturing has a seasonal effect of lower productive activity in the last months of the year, which is reflected in this indicator and others from public agencies such as job creation in the IMSS,” he noted.
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On the “new orders” side, the index reached 39.78 points, a figure below the expansion level, and its record was the lowest level since May 2020.
The “physical volume of production” showed the same behavior, reaching 42.27 points. With this, the capacity used was also lower than the contraction line with 46.1 points.
The lower activity also impacted foreign trade where exports and imports fell to 41.6 and 45.6 respectively. Regarding the number of workers, the index indicated lower activity in hiring, showing 47.1 points.
