Nearshoring boosted Mexican aerospace industry to record levels

MEXICO - In 2012 there was a dream: that Mexico, by 2020, would have US$12 billion in exports for the aerospace industry; however, it was not achieved at that time.

However, four years later, that goal seems closer, because thanks to the relocation of production chains on a global scale, a phenomenon known as nearshoring, this is about to become a reality.

In an interview with MILENIO, the general director of the Mexican Federation of the Aerospace Industry (Femia), Luis Lizcano, forecasts that this year the sector's exports will total around US$10.6 billion, which, in addition to being the first time that the figure prior to the pandemic will be exceeded, will also be an all-time record.

This amount will be 9.8 percent higher than in 2023, when it totaled US$9.6 billion.

“Thirty years ago, the aerospace industry did not figure in the world, but as we have advanced, we are already in 10th place worldwide, a position we have held for several periods,” said Lizcano.

Data from Femia indicate that export growth also occurred in 2022, with an advance of 14 percent, and in 2021 of 7.5 percent, all this just after the health emergency and the rise of global nearshoring.

“The national industry plays an important role in international supply chains,” he reaffirmed.

Information from the Ministry of Economy points out that from 2019 to June 2024, the sector received foreign investment specialized in the aerospace sector of US$1.8 billion, of which US$842.6 million was installed after the health emergency.