Mexico remains top US trade partner, Laredo No. 1 gateway

Port Laredo, Texas, was the No. 1-ranked U.S. trade gateway with Mexico, totaling $26.9 billion in September. It was the eighth straight month the Laredo border crossing was the country’s top-ranked international commercial trade port.

The Port of Los Angeles ranked No. 2 with $25.9 billion and Chicago O’Hare International Airport was No. 3, reporting $23.5 billion in trade during September.

The top three imports from Mexico to the U.S. through Laredo were auto parts ($2.2 billion), passenger vehicles ($1.5 billion) and heavy-duty trucks ($953 million), according to WorldCity.

The top exports from the U.S. to Mexico through Laredo were auto parts ($1.3 billion), gasoline ($327 million) and diesel engines ($237 million).

Exports, production of Mexican-built cargo trucks rebound in October

Production and exports of Mexican-built heavy-duty trucks bounced back in October, according to the latest data from Mexico’s National Association of Bus, Truck and Tractor Producers (ANPACT).

Members of ANPACT reported a 1.8% y/y increase in exports with 14,470 units and a 8.5% y/y rise in production with 18,756 tractors.

It was an improvement compared to September, when monthly production and exports declined after seven consecutive months of y/y growth, according to data from Mexico’s National Statistics Agency (INEGI). 

Truck manufacturing companies in Mexico also sold 4,651 wholesale units during October, which was a 31% y/y increase compared to the same year-ago period.

Miguel Elizalde, ANPACT’s president, said all signs point toward its members having a record year.

The 10 truck makers and two engine producers in Mexico that are members of ANPACT are Freightliner, Kenworth, Navistar, Hino, International, DINA, MAN SE, Mercedes-Benz, Isuzu, Scania, Cummins and Detroit Diesel.

“After leaving the pandemic behind, it is a great advance for the industry to observe that the increases reported to date are maintained; [exports, production and wholesale] will exceed what was achieved in 2019, when we reached historic results,” Miguel Elizalde, president of Anpact, said during a videoconference on Friday.

Freightliner was the top truck producer and exporter in Mexico in October. The company produced 11,209 trucks, a 12% y/y increase, and exported 9,721 units, a 7% y/y increase.

International Trucks Inc. was the No. 2 producer and exporter, manufacturing 4,901 trucks in October, a 6% y/y decline. The truck maker exported 4,243 units during the month, an 8% y/y decrease. 

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