Covid vaccinations give Morena party a shot in the arm for Congressional elections

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March 3, 2021

Candidates for vaccination await their turn.

The Covid-19 vaccination program has given the ruling Morena party a significant boost, one new poll indicates, while another found that a majority of people approve of President López Obrador’s management of the pandemic despite Mexico having the third highest death toll in the world.

A poll conducted by the newspaper El Financiero in mid and late February found that 44% of 1,000 respondents would vote for Morena if the election for federal deputies were held the day they were polled, an increase of 6% compared to January. The poll was conducted as Mexico’s vaccination program was broadening beyond health workers to include seniors, the first of whom were inoculated against Covid-19 on February 15.

Morena was widely criticized last month for continuing to support the candidacy of alleged rapist Félix Salgado for governor of Guerrero but the issue didn’t appear to damage the party’s standing among respondents.

Support for Morena now is more than double that of March 2020 when just 18% of El Financiero poll respondents said that they would vote for its candidates in a lower house election.

Both the National Action Party (PAN) and the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) attracted just 10% support in the latest poll while 3% of respondents said that they intended to vote for the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD). Almost a third of respondents didn’t declare a preference.

Voter preferences for the federal Chamber of Deputies since June 2019. Those who said none or undecided are shown in black. el financiero

Support for Morena was even higher among people who believe that the government’s vaccination program is proceeding very well or well, with 64% of that cohort indicating that they would vote for the ruling party or its allies.

(Almost 2.6 million vaccine doses, or two for every 100 people, had been administered in Mexico as of Tuesday night.)

Support for Morena slumped to 25% among those who believe that the vaccine rollout is proceeding very badly or badly, while 35% of that cohort indicated they would vote for the PAN-PRI-PRD alliance.

Among respondents who have a lot or some confidence in Covid-19 vaccines, 50% said that they would vote for Morena while only 19% opted for the three-party opposition bloc. Among those with little or no confidence in the vaccines, support for Morena dropped to 26% and increased to 37% for the PAN-PRI-PRD coalition.

Meanwhile, a new survey conducted by consulting and research firm Mitofsky found that 55.9% of 1,000 respondents approve of López Obrador’s management of the coronavirus crisis, an increase of 12.4% compared to the end of March 2020 when Mexico’s official Covid-19 death toll was below 30.

The significant increase appears to defy logic: the official death toll is now above 187,000, the economy slumped by 8.5% last year, there has been scant economic support for people affected by the downturn and the news agency Bloomberg has rated Mexico as the worst country to be in during the Covid crisis.

In contrast, the popularity of the government’s coronavirus czar, Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell, has declined since the early stages of the pandemic – but not significantly.

On April 12 last year – when Mexico’s Covid-19 death toll rose to 296 – 58% of respondents to a Mitofsky poll said they had a good opinion of the coronavirus point man. Last Sunday, 52.8% of respondents said the same, a decline of just 5.2%.

López-Gatell, who was hospitalized for five days last week due to Covid-19 complications, has maintained strong support in Mitofsky’s polls despite leading a widely-criticized pandemic strategy and coming under fire for ignoring his own stay-at-home advice by traveling to the coast of Oaxaca for a New Year’s holiday while the country faced a worsening coronavirus situation.

The latest Mitofsky poll also found that 62% of respondents are afraid of dying of Covid-19 and 75.3% are fearful that they or a family member will contract the virus.

Almost 92% of those polled on February 28 said they know someone who has had the virus – Mexico’s official case tally is just under 2.1 million but that figure is considered a vast undercount due to the low testing rate – and 80.1% said that they knew at least one person who died from Covid-19.

The survey found that 28.3% of respondents had a preference for being inoculated agains Covid-19 with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine while 24.2% opted for the Sputnik V shot. The AstraZeneca/Oxford University (13.7%) Johnson & Johnson (5.1%) and Moderna (2.8%) vaccines ranked third, fourth and fifth respectively.

The Chinese-made CanSino Biologics and Sinovac vaccines, both of which have been approved for use in Mexico, were chosen by just 0.8% and 0.6% of respondents, respectively.

Source: El Financiero (sp), El Economista (sp)

Analysts see rule of law, crime, corruption as biggest barriers to investment

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MND Staff

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March 3, 2021

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economic growth forecasts — The consensus among analysts consulted by the Bank of México was for growth of 3.89% this year. el economista

Rule of law concerns, crime and corruption are the biggest barriers to investment in Mexico, according to analysts consulted by the central bank for its February expectations survey.

Two-thirds of analysts consulted by the Bank of México believe that now is not a good time to invest in the country.

The federal government has been widely criticized for changing the rules of the game in the energy sector, a move that many analysts say will scare off investment. A reform that seeks to overhaul the electricity market to favor the state-owned Federal Electricity Commission passed the Senate on Tuesday and will now go the president for promulgation.

In its first two years in office, the government has failed to make any substantial progress in reducing the high levels of violent crime. Its first full year in office, 2019, was the most violent year on record in terms of homicides and murders only declined 0.4% in 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic.

President López Obrador claims that his administration is eradicating corruption but the 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) published by the non-governmental organization Transparency International in January indicates that the progress made last year was minimal. Mexico ranked last out of the 37 OECD countries and its score on the CPI scale was well below the global and Americas averages.

inflation forecast — Analysts’ consensus is that inflation will reach 3.88%. el economista

Only 45% of analysts consulted by the central bank believe that Mexico’s business and investment climate will improve in the next six months, while 48% believe it will stay the same.

They are slightly more optimistic about Mexico’s growth prospects in 2021 after the economy slumped 8.5% last year in its worst performance since the Great Depression. The consensus forecast was 3.89% growth this year, up from a 3.74% prediction in January.

Electricity sector changes were cited by 31% of analysts as an obstacle to growth while 30% said that broader energy sector issues, including ones that affect oil, gasoline and gas, could hinder economic expansion.

The survey found a consensus forecast of 3.88% annual inflation at year’s end, up from a 3.65% prediction in January. It was the biggest fluctuation to the estimated inflation level in 12 months.

The survey also found a consensus prediction for an exchange rate of 20.32 pesos to the US dollar at the end of the year compared to a 20.18 pesos forecast in January. The exchange rate on Wednesday morning was about 20.8 pesos to one greenback, according to the currency conversion website xe.com.

The consensus forecast is that the central bank’s benchmark interest rate will be 3.73% at the end of 2020, about a quarter point lower than the current rate of 4%.

UPDATE March 3, 1:50 p.m. CT: The Bank of México raised its 2021 outlook for economic growth to 4.8%, well over its previous forecast of 3.3%. For 2022 the bank foresees growth of 3.3%, up from its earlier forecast of 2.6%.

Source: El Economista (sp)

Tourism businesses hope for Holy Week visitors but some beaches will be closed

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MND Staff

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March 2, 2021

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mexican beach — There may be a few empty beaches during Semana Santa this year.

After going through their worst year in living memory in 2020, tourism businesses are hoping to recoup some of their losses during the Easter vacation period but beach closures in some destinations won’t help.

Average hotel occupancy across popular destinations in Semana Santa, or Holy Week, which starts in late March and extends into early April, is expected to be as high as 65%, according to the Ministry of Tourism.

More than 5 million international and domestic visitors are expected to descend on Mexican destinations and an economic spillover of more than 13.9 billion pesos (US $674.3 million) is predicted, the Confederation of Chambers of Commerce, Services and Tourism (Concanaco) said in a statement.

That would go some way to making up for estimated losses of more than 52 billion pesos during the Easter period last year when much of the world was in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Concanaco president José Manuel López Campos expressed confidence that the cancelation of travel from Canada due to the three-month suspension of flights from that country to Mexico will be compensated for by the arrival of people from the United States, some of whom have already been vaccinated against Covid-19 and are keen to resume international travel.

He also noted that none of Mexico’s 32 states are currently maximum risk red on the coronavirus stoplight map, asserting that will encourage Mexicans to go on vacation during the Semana Santa period. Magical towns, colonial cities and beach destinations all stand to benefit, López said.

However, some coastal destinations will have to attempt to attract visitors without the lure of their beaches as authorities in at least two states have said they will be closed over the Easter holiday to reduce the risk of new coronavirus outbreaks.

Baja California Sur (BCS) Health Minister Víctor George Flores said that beaches in that state, home to destinations such as Los Cabos, Loreto and La Paz, will be closed, while authorities in Navolato, Sinaloa, a coastal municipality near Culiacán, said the same.

Given that increases in coronavirus case numbers in states such as Guerrero and Quintana Roo were attributed to an influx of visitors over the Christmas-New Year vacation period, there is a possibility that more coastal destinations will follow the lead of BCS and Navolato and close beaches over Easter.

Patricia Segura Medina, a researcher at the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases, warned that the Easter vacation period, along with a relaxation of health measures and the currently low vaccination levels, could trigger a third wave of infections.

“[With the] arrival of Semana Santa I have no doubt that people will want to go out again, … there’ll be fewer distancing restrictions [due to the reduced coronavirus risk level in many states] and crowds of people that could start a third wave,” she said at a recent conference.

Segura also noted that new strains of the coronavirus have been detected in Mexico, including ones shown to be more contagious. That only increases the risk of new outbreaks being seeded over Easter, she said.

The researcher called on the authorities to speed up the vaccination process, saying that at least 80% of the population will need to be inoculated before there is herd immunity against the virus.

According to a New York Times vaccinations tracker, only 1.6% of the Mexican population has received a vaccine dose and just 0.4% are fully vaccinated.

Source: Periódico Viaje (sp), Milenio (sp), El Heraldo de México (sp), ADN 40 (sp)

Mexican conglomerate pulls out of landmark sale of its core business

By

Jude Webber

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March 2, 2021

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Orbia decided against selling its profitable vinyls business. — Orbia decided against selling its highly profitable vinyls business.

At the start of this year, Mexican conglomerate Orbia was poised for a landmark divestment. The company, which makes almost all the famous soles for Doc Martens footwear and a quarter of the world’s turntable records, planned to exit one of its core businesses: vinyls.

The negotiations between Orbia and Apollo Global Management on a deal came close to completing — part of the 68-year-old company’s ambitious shift to focus less on legacy businesses and more on people and the planet.

Under high-profile chief executive Daniel Martínez-Valle, a former government official and entrepreneur, the company had changed its name from the more solid Mexichem to the trendier Orbia and adopted a new mission statement: “to advance life around the world.”

Vinyls and plastics had jarred with that ambition and Orbia’s drive to focus less on chemicals and more on agriculture, water and infrastructure.

But at the 11th hour, the company balked on the vinyls sale. The deal was off and Martínez-Valle left. Orbia’s financial results released late last month showed why.

CEO Daniel Martínez-Valle had a vision for the firm that didn’t include chemicals. He is no longer with the company.

Overall, its 2020 performance beat market expectations. But vinyls was the standout. Accounting for just over a third of group revenues, its operating income surged nearly 300% in the fourth quarter, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization leapt 86%.

“Today, the vinyls business is printing money,” said one person with knowledge of the failed transaction, adding the sale “would have left money on the table.” Orbia and Apollo declined to comment.

Orbia’s billionaire patriarch, 82-year-old Antonio del Valle, made his name in banking before president José López Portillo nationalized the sector in 1982. He switched into industry, building Mexichem within a quarter of a century into a major global chemicals and petrochemicals businesses.

Analysts believe the shrewd businessman ultimately could not accept the price. Orbia had discovered that when it came to ditching a highly lucrative legacy businesses, breaking up is hard to do.

Orbia’s positioning of environmental, social and governance (ESG) values at the core of its operations made it a trailblazer among Mexican corporates. So does the collapse of the vinyls business sale show that, when the rubber hits the road, ESG is the first thing to go?

“I don’t think it is,” said Graham Stock, emerging markets sovereign strategist at BlueBay Asset Management, which is part of the Climate Action 100+ and other investor groups holding companies to account on ESG. “But it’s part of a suite of factors that companies take into account. The bottom line is the dominant factor everywhere.”

Orbia has been through transformation before. It began life in 1953 as a steel cable company, but exited that business in 2005 a year after acquiring a hydrofluoric acid producer — used in Teflon, refrigerants and medications. It later expanded further into chemicals, PVC pipes, irrigation equipment and other industrial supplies.

With Sameer Bharadwaj newly installed at the helm, Orbia says it has no intention of abandoning its focus on ESG — indeed his pay contains a “strong component” tied to delivering on these issues.

But Bharadwaj, an Indian with a doctorate in chemical engineering, an MBA from Harvard Business School and a hobby as an astronomer, talked more in the analysts call for the recent results about delivering sustained earnings and unlocking shareholder value than doing well by doing good.

His focus, people familiar with this style say, is less flashy and more about delivering. That might reflect a need to boost a share price that remains stubbornly below its level in March 2018 when Mexichem kicked off its transformation. At that time, its stock was trading around 56 pesos (US $2.71); now it is at 49 pesos.

Bharadwaj previously led Orbia’s vinyls and fluorspar mineral divisions. He knows the vinyls business is cyclical. Things are booming now because a supply crunch has boosted PVC prices. Orbia is one of the world’s top producers of speciality PVC.

As such, he was careful never to say never to a sale. But he told analysts the outlook was solid and there was more value to unlock for shareholders, adding “we won’t be in a rush, but we will explore joint ventures and other opportunities.”

Orbia is not ditching its green goals — but with a vinyls business that insiders say is doing “insanely well,” business logic is proving hard to ignore.

[email protected]

Marine protection fundraiser takes its annual concert virtual this year

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Elisabeth Ashe

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March 2, 2021

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Whales of Guerrero educates Zihuatanejo-area locals about the value of marine conservation and ocean health while promoting sustainable tourism projects.

Although she freely admits that she is not a scientist, somehow Katherina Audley had felt for a long time that her destiny lay in the need to preserve the whales and habitats of birds and other wildlife in the Zihuatanejo-area village of Barra de Potosí.

And so, Whales of Guerrero, the organization she eventually founded to do that, feels like a dream come true, she says.

In recent years in Barra de Potosí, fishing has become sparse, and locals were struggling to earn a living from their depleted resources. The Whales of Guerrero project, in part, increases awareness and education through scientific research. It also brings revenue to the region through numerous ecological and environmental programs that employ locals.

In the organization’s own words, “This project aims to inspire and empower local leaders to create thriving communities and kickstart conservation in Guerrero, Mexico.”

Whales of Guerrero provides local fishermen with the means to support themselves through whalewatching tours on the ocean and kayak tours through the lagoon. To date, a core group of 40 safe whalewatching guides monitor and create a culture for new guides. The result is that Guerrero maintains a reputation for safe whalewatching in the region.

This year's virtual concert will feature the Grammy-winning duo Rodrigo y Gabriela. — This year’s virtual concert will feature the Grammy-winning duo Rodrigo y Gabriela.

Whale watching tourism in the village also means that members of the community can sell arts and crafts to the increasingly growing number of tourists. Locals offering cooking classes, Airbnb experiences, field trips and expeditions with students and nature enthusiasts have contributed to improved economic conditions for residents, not to mention pride in themselves and the project they represent.

An annual fundraising project Audley organized last year for Whales of Guerrero was one of Zihuatanejo events to be at, taking place at the exclusive Thompson Hotel. The elegant dinner and concert featured Gabriela Quintero, half of the Grammy-winning duo Rodrigo Y Gabriela.

Special guests, including Ali Tod from Scotland (who Rodrigo and Gabriela met while on tour in the U.K.), local guitarist Pablo Araujo, vocalist Tita Bravo, and Gabriela’s nephew Carlos on bass rounded out the ensemble for a riveting performance. The next day the concert was repeated free of charge on the beach at Barra de Potosí for locals and visitors, with villagers showcasing their wares of arts and crafts to the public.

Although the Whales of Guerrero fundraiser is happening again this year on March 11, and is again a concert, due to Covid-19 it will feature exclusive online performances by Rodrigo y Gabriela, as well as the online world premiere of Music for the Animals by Gabriela Quintero.

According to the event’s Facebook page, “We promise you a night of beauty and inspiration and hope you will all join us to help raise funds to keep our programs strong, and to celebrate our community and all the good we have accomplished together.”

This year’s event aims to raise US $10,000 to keep whales safe, communities united and oceans healthy in Mexico and worldwide. Donations will be tax-deductible.

The Whales of Guerrero fundraiser put on a second free concert last year at the beach, which allowed locals to sell artisan wares.

The cost is just US $20, which gets visitors into an online performance with both Rodrigo y Gabriela this time, and 90 minutes of beauty and inspiration. You can visit their event site to purchase tickets in advance, which are limited, or if you prefer, you can simply make a donation to Whales of Guerrero to protect ocean health.

The writer divides her time between Canada and Zihuatanejo.

Remittances spike 26% in January to nearly US $3.3 billion

By

MND Staff

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March 2, 2021

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Nearly 11 years of rising remittances. el economista

After a record-breaking 2020 during which Mexicans working abroad sent more than US $40 billion home, remittances spiked 25.8% in January compared to the same month a year earlier.

Remittances totaled just under $3.3 billion last month, according to the central bank, an increase of almost $700 million over the January 2020 total. It was the best January on record for remittances and the biggest first-month spike in percentage terms since January 2006 when transfers surged 28.6%.

Generous economic support amid the coronavirus pandemic in the United States – the chief source of remittances to Mexico, an exchange rate that allows one greenback to buy approximately 20 pesos and the economic downturn and job losses here are seen as the main factors behind the strong remittance levels in 2020 and early 2021.

Approximately 1.8 million Mexican families benefited from the remittances sent last month, according to the Bank of México, and the average transfer was $343, up 1.2% compared to December.

A total of 9.6 million transfers were made in January, a decrease of 11.1% compared to December but an increase of 18.1% over the same month of 2020. Almost 99% of the transfers were made electronically with cash accounting for just $26.5 million, or less than 1% of the total value of remittances.

Bank of México data also shows that Tijuana, Baja California, received more money in family remittances in 2020 than any other municipality. About $626 million flowed into the northern border city last year, a 30.1% increase compared to 2019.

Guadalajara, Jalisco, ranked second followed by Puebla city; Morelia, Michoacán; and Álvaro Obregón, a borough of Mexico City. Rounding out the top 10 were Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua; Culiacán, Sinaloa; León, Guanajuato; Zapopan, Jalisco; and Oaxaca city.

Gabriela Siller, head of economic and financial research at Banco Base, said that without the record remittances in 2020, Mexico’s economic contraction would have been even greater than the 8.5% slump, which was the worst economic result since the Great Depression.

“Without the accelerated recovery of exports in the second half of the year and in the absence of an increase in remittances, the GDP decline would have been 10.5%,” she said.

Pamela Díaz, an economist with French bank BNP Paribas, said that remittances, along with exports to the United States and foreign and domestic investment in Mexico, will play a key role in the economic recovery in 2021.

High levels of remittances provide a substantial boost to domestic consumption because most people who receive them are prone to spending rather than saving the money.

President López Obrador predicts that the economy will grow 5% this year while the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are forecasting GDP expansion of 4.3% and 3.7%, respectively.

Source: El Economista (sp)

AMLO invited Joe Biden to visit newly-constructed roads in Oaxaca

By

MND Staff

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March 2, 2021

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López Obrador and Biden were all smiles Monday during their virtual encounter.

President López Obrador doesn’t just want to welcome his United States counterpart to the hallowed halls of the National Palace in Mexico City, he also wants to take him off the beaten path to visit community-built infrastructure projects in the country’s south.

AMLO, as the president is best known, revealed Tuesday that he had invited U.S. President Joe Biden to visit rural roads recently built by residents of Oaxaca.

Speaking at his regular news conference a day after holding virtual talks with Biden, López Obrador said that he spoke to the U.S. president about a range of infrastructure projects that generate jobs and give Mexicans the opportunity to stay at home rather than migrate.

“I spoke to him about the Maya Train, the Isthmus [of Tehuantepec trade corridor] project and the roads in Oaxaca. And I lingered on that, explaining how the people, men and women, are building the roads and that they’re works of art. So I invited him, when he is in Mexico, … to [visit] Oaxaca to see these roads,” he said.

AMLO’s claim that the roads are “works of art” is debatable given that construction deficiencies have been detected in at least 22 of them.

The president also revealed Tuesday that Biden invited him to attend the Climate Leaders’ Summit to be hosted by the United States, most likely virtually, on April 22, which is Earth Day.

“We’re going to see if we can participate, if not a committee will go. In other words, without a doubt we’re going to participate,” he said.

The president also said that he told Biden about his government’s plan to make changes to the electricity market to favor the state-owned Federal Electricity Commission.

“I raised it with him because I spoke about the priorities of our government. … I [also] told him that we’re cleansing Pemex and the Federal Electricity Commission of corruption, I said that these companies had been looted [by past governments] but we’re putting things in order. He listened,” López Obrador said.

The United States last week urged urged Mexico to listen to the concerns of the private sector with regard to the proposed overhaul of the electricity market but the president remains committed to the bill and has made it clear that he doesn’t want the U.S. meddling in Mexico’s affairs or telling it what to do.

AMLO described Monday’s meeting as friendly and said that Biden was “very respectful.”

In his opening remarks, Biden, the United States’ second Catholic president after John F. Kennedy, said that he paid his respects to the Virgin of Guadalupe during his visits to Mexico as vice president and revealed that he was wearing rosary beads that his son was wearing when he died in 2015.

López Obrador said Tuesday that Biden’s rosary-wearing “confession” and mention of the Virgin of Guadalupe, who is revered in Mexico, demonstrated that the U.S. president is not a “wooden, rigid politician” but rather a sensitive man.

Source: Reforma (sp), Sin Embargo (sp)

Another 25,000 Covid deaths forecast by June 1 but Easter could be negative factor

By

MND Staff

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March 2, 2021

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coronavirus patient — The number of new virus cases continues to trend downward.

Mexico’s official Covid-19 death toll will reach almost 210,000 by June 1, according to a United States-based health research institute, an increase of more than 23,000 over the current total.

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington in Seattle predicts that Mexico’s death toll will reach 209,768 by June 1, an increase of 23,616 compared to the current total of 186,152 fatalities.

Excess mortality data suggests that Mexico’s real Covid-19 death toll is already well above that level. Official data published in late February showed that Mexico had registered 977,081 deaths since March 2020, over 335,000 more than an expected 641,556 based on the 2015-2019 death tolls.

The IHME predicts that with universal mask usage the death toll will reach just over 208,000 by the start of June while in a worst case scenario in which people’s mobility increases toward pre-pandemic levels, 210,463 will have lost their lives to Covid-19 by that date.

All three of the institute’s projections indicate that there will be fewer Covid-19 fatalities in the three-month period between March and May than there were in February, during which Mexico’s Covid-19 death toll increased by 27,179.

The average daily death toll reported in February declined only 8% compared to January – the worst month of the pandemic for both new cases and deaths – but the average daily case tally fell 44%, meaning that fatalities should fall considerably this month.

There was an encouraging sign on the first day of March with only 2,343 new cases reported. (The accumulated tally currently stands at 2.09 million.)

However, it remains to be seen if Mexico will see a sustained decline in case numbers that would prevent the death toll from increasing again at the pace seen in January and February.

Parties, travel and gatherings of families and friends over the Christmas-New Year vacation period fueled Mexico’s coronavirus crisis in early 2021 and experts warn that Easter holidays pose a similar risk.

“We’re just starting to see a reduction in cases … and if we don’t obey the prevention measures and we flood the beaches, coastal resorts and large cities, cases and deaths due to coronavirus won’t go down, even with the vaccine,” Malaquías López Cervantes, a public health professor at the National Autonomous University (UNAM), told the newspaper El Universal.

UNAM mathematician Arturo Erdely also warned that the Easter holiday period could cause case numbers and deaths to spike. He noted that Mexico doesn’t require incoming travelers to present a negative Covid-19 test result, asserting “that could cause upticks in Covid cases and deaths.”

“The use of face masks must always be promoted and when we get the vaccine [we should] carry on as if we haven’t had it. That’s the only way we’ll be able to take an important step … [toward defeating] Covid,” Erdely said.

Mexico had administered just over 2.5 million vaccine doses as of Monday night, mainly to frontline health workers and seniors. Almost 4.7 million doses have now arrived in Mexico including a shipment of 852,150 Pfizer shots that reached Mexico City on Tuesday.

President López Obrador predicted last month that the country’s approximately 15.7 million seniors will have received at least one vaccine dose by the middle of April, two weeks later than previously anticipated. Mexico is inoculating the population against Covid-19 according to a five-stage vaccination plan and expects to immunize about 75% of adults by the end of the year.

Mexico News Daily

German auto parts maker to invest US $72 million in San Luis Potosí

By

Michelle Aguilar

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March 2, 2021

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continental factory — Continental's manufacturing facilities in Mexico employ about 25,000 people.

The German auto parts manufacturer Continental will invest US $72.2 million in one of its four San Luis Potosí plants, expanding it to increase manufacturing space and expand and modernize storage. The enlargement will create 350 new jobs.

The project, expected to be concluded by October 2022, will add 20,000 square meters to the plant, an almost doubling of its current size. The company will also build a warehouse in which the management of product will be fully automated, officials said.

“The decision to locate the manufacturing of these high-technology components in our San Luis Potosí plant is a strong signal of Continental’s confidence in Mexico, and especially the region,” said Victor Hernández, the plant’s director.

Company officials said that part of the aim of the expansion is to create a manufacturing plant that will be “first in its class in Mexico,” particularly in the production of hydraulic brakes, and will be competitive in the industry worldwide.

It appears to indicate that Continental is betting on a better year for auto manufacturing in 2021 than last year, when production and sales to the U.S. dropped 20%, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI). The U.S. is the Mexican auto manufacturing industry’s biggest customer, and about 82% of Mexican-made auto parts get shipped north of the border.

In 2021, the Mexican Association for the Automotive Industry is predicting a 12% uptick in the production, exportation and sales of vehicles this year, despite an 8.5% contraction of the Mexican economy in 2020, the worst in 90 years, and forecasts by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank predicting that GDP in 2021 won’t bounce back any higher than 4.3%.

Continental employs about 25,000 people in 13 states. Its four manufacturing plants in San Luis Potosí, combined with its financial center in that city, currently employ over 3,000.

Sources: Informador (sp)

Fear of Covid blamed for massive decline in reports of common ailments

By

Rebecca Martin

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March 2, 2021

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For many, hospitals and clinics are places to avoid.

Thousands of Mexicans suffering from common illnesses are avoiding seeking treatment for fear of becoming infected with coronavirus.

Despite the risks these types of conditions carry, diagnoses of diseases such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, intestinal infections, acute respiratory ailments and tuberculosis, among others, are at an all time low due to the focus the health sector has placed on combating covid-19.

New cases of many diseases historically affecting Mexicans have fallen by 40% in the last year compared to those reported in 2019. There are concerns that obesity, high blood pressure and acute respiratory infections, which have for years killed thousands of Mexican citizens, are now going without treatment.

The latter have shown the biggest decline in reported cases, dropping from 23.7 million in 2019 to 13.7 million last year. Consultations for respiratory problems in general declined 42%.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, and in line with advice from major health organizations, the government has used most public hospitals to treat coronavirus patients, aiming to avoid hospitals becoming overwhelmed. But attention has subsequently been taken away from those with other illnesses.

“Yes there is disruption because everything is focused on Covid-19 and other services are not being carried out; I can imagine that when they start to produce the data, the vaccination coverage of Mexican children will have suffered because their parents did not take them to be treated and all these prevention issues will have to be endured,” explained Dr. Carlos Magis Rodríguez, a researcher and professor at the National Autonomous University.

The reduction of health services as well as government advice for people to stay at home if they showed any flu or cold like symptoms has meant that face-to-face appointments have been scarce and those who became unwell had to rely on remote consultations.

Source: Milenio (sp)