AWPA held its Annual Meeting in sunny Mexico, and a great time was had by all. Not only were there excellent speakers, but attendees also got to take advantage of the golf courses, tennis tournaments and lucrative fishing in and around the resort. Jerry Mitchell, Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs from the US Embassy in Mexico City gave an informative presentation on the economic situation in Mexico. More than 44% of the country's population is under 20, and this is expected to increase. Of the entire population, 5% are considered wealthy; 18% upper middle class; 37% middle class; and 40% are considered poor. Mexico is the second largest export market for US exports (Canada is number one). Exports totaled about $98 billion in 2003. Tariffs are virtually zero for most of these exports. In 2002, the Mexican political situation changed drastically. The major party that had been in power for over 70 years was replaced when Vicente Fox became president. But the Congress was still controlled by the other party -- making it difficult to reach consensus on initiatives and policy decisions. Mitchell advised that US companies which want to do business in Mexico to develop personal relationships with Mexican customers. He added that a flexible attitude and patience is key to selling to Mexico as decisions take awhile. However, Mexicans still expect Americans to show up on time and respond promptly. As in the past, an economist -- Alejandro Urbina from Bank One - made a presentation on what to expect from the Mexican economy in 2004. His forecast for 2004 is that GDP growth in Mexico will be 2.4%. However, the Mexican economy needs to grow around 5% each year to become a developed nation within a couple of decades. He added that China is a formidable new competitor for Mexican exports into the US. Chinese imports into the US exceeded those from last year, and have been growing at a much faster rate than Mexico's which have been mostly constant over the last couple of years. Selected AWPA company representatives next served on a panel to discuss the situation with the domestic rod supply. Basically, demand far outstrips domestic supply. Wire and wire products manufacturers will need about 280 million tons of steel this year and 300 million will be needed by 2005. Obtaining needed raw materials has now become a weekly problem. One can no longer forecast due to the fluctuations in prices, rod supply and scrap availability. All agreed that the impact of China has been phenomenal on the ability of US wire and wire products manufacturers to obtain needed carbon wire rod. China continues to import raw materials at an accelerated rate -- creating a worldwide shortage problem that will continue for at least a year or more. They concluded that this is not a short-term problem. Rounding out the program was a panel of representatives from the Mexican Wire Association. They stated that the three year-old association has 22 members that represent 90% of the wire production in Mexico. Total rod production in Mexico is 2 million tons made primarily by three major rod suppliers. A very small amount of rod is imported, They concluded that the wire plants in Mexico are growing, but still only working at about 75% capacity. The event ended with a sensational dinner on the beach featuring the best food around. Be sure to mark your calendars for the 2005 AWPA Annual Meeting being held in Scottsdale, Arizona January 30 through February 2.
Our AWPA Champs AWPA would like to congratulate our "champs" from the Annual Meeting Sports Tournaments.Fishing Largest Fish Dave Koontz, ZAPP USA Tennis - Doubles 1st Place Peter Cronin, Industrial Wire Products, and Mary Selhorst, Guest
Golf Member Top Foursome Spouse/Guest Top Foursome Men's Longest Drive Men's Closest to the Pin Women's Longest Drive Women's Closest to the Pin
 American Wire Producers Association |
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