Mexico: Exports crumble at record pace in April on Covid-19 hit
Exports collapsed 40.9% year-on-year in April as Covid-19 took its toll, following March’s 1.6% slip and marking the steepest fall since data collection began in the early 1990s. The plunge reflected plummeting oil exports amid the oil price crash, and crumbling shipments of vehicles and auto parts as the auto industry shut down for the entire month as part of Covid-19 containment measures.
Similarly, imports nosedived 30.5% over the same month of 2019 in April, following March’s 6.7% decline and marking the sharpest drop since the height of the 2009 global financial crisis. The downturn reflected an across-the-board contraction in the purchase of oil, consumer, intermediate and capital goods.
Meanwhile, the merchandise trade balance recorded a deficit of USD 3.1 billion in April, contrasting the USD 1.5 billion surplus logged in the same month of 2019. As a result, the 12-month rolling trade balance declined to a USD 6.3 billion surplus in April from a USD 10.9 billion surplus in March.