Monterrey.- Last March, the plant capacity used by manufacturing companies in the country reached a new all-time high of 85.2 percent, on average, Inegi reported yesterday.
The percentage indicates the relationship between the volume of production obtained and that which could potentially have been generated according to the infrastructure, equipment, technical procedures and organization of the companies, as well as the human and material resources they use, explains the Inegi. .
Leaders of the manufacturing sector pointed out that behind the new maximum in the use of plant capacity are the higher orders.
Zelina Fernández, director of Index Nuevo León, an organization that brings together the Export Manufacturing and Maquiladora Industry (IMMEX), mentioned that an upward trend began to be noticed from the third quarter of 2020.
Since then, he noted, production and export values have repeatedly exceeded previous historical records.
“In 2022, new manufacturing orders had the best year in their history.
“(Now) the partners of Index Nuevo León have mentioned that they expect an increase in their production of approximately 10 percent for the next 12 months,” he said.
Fernández said that for this reason, 71 percent of the partners plan to invest in the purchase of new machinery and equipment, expand their workforce and, in some cases, also carry out expansions or remodeling of their current plants.
In an analysis, Banco Base agreed that the progress of the plant use indicator reflects that production continues to grow.
“(However), in the negative it implies that the plant capacity is close to the maximum because production grows at a faster rate than investment, which will limit production in the future as the capacity used approaches 100 percent,” he warned.
Until last March, with data released yesterday by the Inegi, the manufacturing branches that made the most progress in their production were the manufacture of transport equipment, with an increase of 6.7 percent per year in original figures; the manufacture of computer equipment and other electronics, of 6.1; the production of petroleum derivatives, 5.8, and the manufacture of electrical appliances, 4.6 percent.
All of them, except for oil derivatives, recorded plant capacity use levels of over 90 percent that month.
