CrossborderInforma: Shifting Leadership? Trends in Mexico’s Maquiladora/IMMEX Industry

Download: PDF briefing on 2010 Mexico maquiladora/IMMEX trends

Crossborder Group has just completed an analysis of the most-recent INEGI data for Mexico’s maquiladora/IMMEX industry — some findings of which are presented at right in our CrossborderInforma briefing (download here, or by clicking on the image [PDF, 175kb]). Beyond the fact that Mexico’s IMMEX companies are continuing their rebound from the 2008-2009 recession — ending 2010 with a respectable 1.81 million employees (9.1% growth year-over-year compared to December 2009) — several other findings stand out:

• Border states captured only 63% of the nearly 165,000 jobs created in the maquiladora/IMMEX sectors in 2010;
• Nuevo León has surpassed Baja California for second-place in terms of total IMMEX employees (despite the negative security image, Chihuahua remains in first-place); and…
• Northwest Mexico states’ IMMEX employment grow at a significantly slower rate than many Northeast and Central states. For example, in 2010, IMMEX employment grew far more quickly in Querétaro (+14.7%), Edo México (+14.5%), Coahuila (+14.2%), San Luis Potosí (+13.5%), Nuevo León (+13.3%) and Guanajuato (+12.6%) compared to maquiladora powerhouses Chihuahua (+5.5%) or Baja California (+6.0%) — or key states like Jalisco (+4.4%) or Sonora (+8.4%).

Do these shifts in IMMEX industry growth reflect underlying changes in the competitive offerings of these States, or are they temporary fluctuations caused by a variety of factors? Download our one-page CrossborderInforma briefing above for more details and our initial thoughts — and feel free to contact Crossborder as we continue to analyze Mexico’s manufacturing regions and their industrial opportunities.

Just-released data from Mexico’s INEGI shows
that the maquiladora/IMMEX industry finished
2010 with modest gains in employment over
the past year – although the number of actual
firms decreased by 2.6%. Year-over-year
employment (Dec. 2009-Dec. 2010) for IMMEX
firms grew 9.1% to a total of 1.81 million
workers – only slightly lower than pre-Recession
average levels of 1.85-1.91 million (although
what may be a short-term seasonal leveling-off
can be seen in Nov/Dec 2010 numbers).
While border states captured 63% of the nearly
165,000 IMMEX industry jobs created between
December 2009 and 2010 (19.6% of the total,
in fact, just in the three cities of Reynosa,
Ciudad Juarez, and Apodaca alone), some
notable trends can be seen:
The State of Chihuahua continues with the
top-rank for overall IMMEX employment –
but Baja California has dropped to thirdplace
due to the fast-paced expansion of
Nuevo León’s sectors;
As seen at right, northeast border states
and central regions are growing
significantly faster than the traditional
maquiladora powerhouses of Chihuahua,
Baja California, and Sonora. Year-overyear
IMMEX employment growth in
Coahuila, Guanajuato, EdoMex, Nuevo
León, Querétaro, and San Luis Potosí all
ranged between +12.5% to +14.7%.
Whether or not 2010’s growth will continue at theJust-released data from Mexico’s INEGI shows
that the maquiladora/IMMEX industry finished
2010 with modest gains in employment over
the past year – although the number of actual
firms decreased by 2.6%. Year-over-year
employment (Dec. 2009-Dec. 2010) for IMMEX
firms grew 9.1% to a total of 1.81 million
workers – only slightly lower than pre-Recession
average levels of 1.85-1.91 million (although
what may be a short-term seasonal leveling-off
can be seen in Nov/Dec 2010 numbers).
While border states captured 63% of the nearly
165,000 IMMEX industry jobs created between
December 2009 and 2010 (19.6% of the total,
in fact, just in the three cities of Reynosa,
Ciudad Juarez, and Apodaca alone), some
notable trends can be seen:
The State of Chihuahua continues with the
top-rank for overall IMMEX employment –
but Baja California has dropped to thirdplace
due to the fast-paced expansion of
Nuevo León’s sectors;
As seen at right, northeast border states
and central regions are growing
significantly faster than the traditional
maquiladora powerhouses of Chihuahua,
Baja California, and Sonora. Year-overyear
IMMEX employment growth in
Coahuila, Guanajuato, EdoMex, Nuevo
León, Querétaro, and San Luis Potosí all
ranged between +12.5% to +14.7%.
Whether or not 2010’s growth will continue at the

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