Mexico’s trade balance shows a deficit of 4.3 billion USD in January

Mexico’s trade balance has shown a deficit of 4.315 billion dollars in January, following a surplus of 4.242 billion in December. This is its worst result in 17 months.

As reported by the Mexican National Institute of Geography and Statistics (INEGI), this is the widest deficit recorded by the indicator since August 2022. The figure worsens market expectations, as a deficit of 2.286 billion was anticipated.

In January, the value of exports reached 41.957 billion dollars, consisting of 39.236 billion dollars in non-oil exports and 2.721 billion dollars in oil exports. Thus, total exports reported a year-on-year decrease of 1.5%, reflecting a 1.7% decline in non-oil exports and a 0.2% increase in oil exports.

The value of all imports reached 46.272 billion dollars, representing a 1% year-on-year decrease.

Within exports, oil-related exports totaled 2,720.7 million dollars, a 0.2% year-on-year increase, while non-oil exports amounted to 39,236.5 million dollars, representing a 1.7% decline.

According to the latest outlook from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), global trade remains moderate, although it has begun to show some signs of improvement.

The Mexican Peso has reacted slightly, with the USD/MXN rising to 17.07 from 17.05. However, this trend quickly reverted and the peso is now appreciating. Investors might have noticed something within the data that looks fine and also other emerging currencies are appreciating against the US dollar, such as the Brazilian Real and the Colombian Peso.

Regarding the volume of crude oil exports, in the reference month, it stood at 982,000 barrels per day, lower than the 1.047 million barrels per day in December 2023 and the 997,000 barrels per day in January 2023.

In the first month of 2024, the value of agricultural and fishing exports was 1.931 billion dollars, representing a year-on-year increase of 0.7 percent.

The largest increases were recorded in the exports of beef cattle (29.8%), avocados (28.7%), fresh strawberries (11.8%), fruits (8.1%), and citrus fruits (6.4 percent).

In contrast, the most relevant annual reductions were seen in tomato exports (11.5%) and fresh vegetables (6.9%).