Mexico has business opportunities in the substitution of screw and bolt imports, recommended the Ministry of Economy.
In 2023, Mexico imported screws and bolts, including their nuts and washers, for a customs value of US$1.77 billion.
This classification does not include drill screws, which are designed to drill certain materials without the need to drill a hole with a drill.
Substitution of screw and bolt imports
Behind the United States (2.867 billion dollars) and Germany (2.211 billion dollars), Mexico ranks as the third largest importer of screws and bolts in the world.
In mid 2023, the then Secretary of Economy, Raquel Buenrostro, highlighted that Mexico has opportunities to substitute imports, especially from Asia, and among the cases with which she exemplified this, she mentioned screws.
Below is the trend of Mexican imports of screws, in millions of dollars:
- 2017: 1,404.
- 2018: 1,535.
- 2019: 1,585.
- 2020: 1,275.
- 2021: 1,625.
- 2022: 1,816.
- 2023: 1,770.
Multiple uses
In Mexico, screws and bolts are used in the production of a wide variety of products. For example, they are used in the production of auto parts, trucks, automobiles, buses, tractors and ATVs.
They are also widely used in the manufacture of washing machines, stoves, refrigerators and other household appliances.
Numerous other uses are in the construction sector or in decoration, whether for installing doors and windows, assembling furniture, hanging pictures or fixing televisions to walls.
Below are the top five foreign suppliers of screws and bolts in Mexico in 2013, in millions of dollars:
- United States: 864.
- China: 257.
- Taiwan: 212.
- Japan: 93.
- Germany: 87.
To manufacture screws, mainly steel is required, although other materials such as aluminum, bronze, titanium, nylon and other plastics are also used.
In addition, thread rolling machines, drawing machines (to draw the metal), mechanical presses or forging machines (to shape the head of the screw), heat treatment furnaces (to increase the strength of the material) and coating and galvanizing machines (to apply layers of zinc, nickel or other materials to protect against corrosion) are required for their manufacture.