Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Mexico in the steel industry totaled $116 million in the third quarter of the year, a figure that contrasts with the capital outflow of $349 million due to the sale of assets to a Mexican investor or the repatriation of profits to their countries of origin, according to SteelOrbis' analysis of data from the Ministry of Economy.
Unlike other quarters, the Basic Iron and Steel Industry ranked eleventh in terms of FDI in the third quarter. The amount represented 3.6 percent of the $3.2 billion in FDI that the Mexican economy received in the third quarter of the year.
In recent quarters, investment in the Basic Iron and Steel Industry accounted for 8.0 percent of total investment with $1.88 billion out of $23.5 billion in the first quarter of 2023.
In the cumulative period from January to September, FDI totaled $816 million, 61.9 percent or $1.33 billion less than the $2.14 billion in the same period last year.
In the historical period from January 2006 to September 2024, FDI in the Basic Iron and Steel Industry accumulated $16.7 billion, a figure that placed it in seventh position, surpassed by the $18.1 billion of investment in natural gas transportation by pipeline, the $32.7 billion in metallic mineral mining; the $38.1 billion of investment in auto parts.
In addition, FDI in automobile and truck manufacturing totaled $47.1 billion, the beverage industry accumulated $49.8 billion, and investment in banks totaled $60.9 billion.
The Mexican government's information corresponds to the Basic Iron and Steel Industry, which are companies dedicated mainly to the primary smelting of raw iron and the manufacture of steel, ferroalloys, finished products in their same steel complexes such as tubes, posts, profiles, wire rod, cables, and rods. These companies also produce primary slabs from purchased pig iron.