2020 was marked by the irruption of supply chains worldwide, which according to the definition of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) is understood as the different links that occur in a company, ranging from raw materials not processed to finished products that reach the final consumer.

Various problems were added, during the first semester of 2020 we saw the brake of industrial activities worldwide, as a result of the pandemic.

Towards the second half of the year, the shortage of containers was added, where a large part of them was stuck between the United States and Europe without being able to return normally to Asia, from where a large part of the world trade merchandise left.

Other circumstances such as cuts in port workers and the reduction of ships in shipping companies together with the closure of logistics agencies finished completing the equation for the crisis that was unleashed by the disruption of global supply chains.

Check here: Nuevo León leads foreign direct investment in Mexico as of 3Q 2021

The consequences of the excessive increase in demand was that maritime freights and associated costs reached historical highs, which caused the prices of importing products from China to skyrocket, having almost quadrupled the original figure.

Therefore, the shortage of transport space from China to the West becomes an opportunity for countries located on the continent and close to demand, which will take advantage of this situation, as is the case in Mexico.

Mexico, having a highly developed border with the United States, which together with Canada make up the T-Mec, became having the ideal characteristics to establish nearshoring of various commercial operations.

Of the border cities monitored by Solili Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez, Mexicali, Reynosa constitute the first border line and during the first eight months of 2021 they have registered 30% of the gross national demand.

The rest of cities in the north of the country such as Monterrey, Tecate, Chihuahua and Saltillo account for 27% of the national industrial demand.

The case of Monterrey exhibits the highest national demand from January to October 2021 with 920.4 thousand square meters. The increase in gross demand in the entity is 90% if we measure 3Q 2021 against 3Q 2020, which indicates the strong growth of industrial activity driven by distortions in supply chains.

Of interest: Nearshoring the driver that is giving the impulse to the industrial market in Mexico

So far this year we have registered that both manufacturing and logistics have been the triggers of net demand and we believe that Mexican companies will continue to implement nearshoring as we have observed throughout 2021.

The process of locating suppliers and merchandise in Mexico, or in countries on the same continent, including the United States, will favor its supply model, thus impacting on the reduction of transportation costs.

For its part, Mexico has in its favor the existence of a stable industrial market with a high degree of institutional development where foreign and national investors have managed to create a sustained offer that has been updated in terms of quality of spaces and facilities, adapting the current ESG criteria to a good part of the more than 3.3 million square meters that are built in industrial buildings in the country.