Mexican exports will be affected in May by the lack of supplies derived from the global pandemic of Covid-19, estimated Banco de México (Banxico).

«The central bank expects that the greatest weakness in the world economy and the lower national production as a consequence of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the supply of inputs will continue to have an unfavorable and significant impact on the Mexican export sector, particularly in May, ”he said in his quarterly report.

Mexico exported products worth 23.385 million dollars in April, a drop of 40.9% year-on-year, the highest in current records released online by Banco de México, since 1993.

Information about foreign trade in goods provides a relatively more timely view of the magnitude of the initial effects of the pandemic on aggregate demand.

In particular, at the end of the first quarter of 2020 and especially at the beginning of the second, the effects on foreign trade in goods were reflected both in a significant reduction in exports and in a deepening of the negative trend that has been observed in imports.

Exports

It highlights that in March and April automotive exports exhibited drastic falls as a result of the suspension of activities of the assembly plants during the second half of March and in April in response to the health emergency.

In turn, non-automotive manufacturing exports also registered a sharp decline in April, which placed them at their lowest level since the end of 2011.

For its part, in the first quarter of 2020, oil exports contracted compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, reflecting the lower average prices of the Mexican export mix observed since the end of February and particularly in April, and despite the fact that the Export crude oil increased in that period.

Indeed, the sharp drop in the price of the Mexican mix in April led to a monthly reduction of over 40% in the value of oil exports in that month.