Trade moving through Santa Teresa spiking
New Mexico is experiencing an export boom to Mexico, with a lot of products coming through our region.
New Mexico exported $1.5 billion in goods to Mexico last year. ABC-7’s New Mexico Mobile Newsroom has learned about half that is moving through Doa Ana County. That percentage could continue to rise.
“For the foreseeable future and again it depends on the economy,” said Jerry Pacheco, vice president of the Border Industrial Association. “Since the economies of Mexico and the United States are tied together, I think we’ve passed the tipping point. There’s no going back at this point in time.”
Pacheco said that the boom is due in large part to the renewed maquiladora industry in Ciudad Juarez along with the logistics capabilities like the Union Pacific intermodal, Santa Teresa airport and border crossing with overweight cargo limits.
Computer parts top the export list with $755.3 million worth of parts exported last year, and going over to places like Foxconn in Juarez for final assembly. Electrical equipment and appliances are next at $114.7 million, with fabricated metal at $113.9 million and petroleum and coal at $108.6 million rounding out the top of the list.
To keep all this going, Pacheco said there is more work needed in Southern New Mexico.
“For us to continue on this growth path, we need to work with the public sector at the state and federal levels to do several things,” Pacheco said. “We need to improve our infrastructure, the roads need to be replaced because we’ve got so much truck traffic they’re getting torn up. Eventually we’re going to have to expand the port of entry. That port of entry was good 10 to 15 years ago. Now, it’s getting to the point where we’re having growing pains”
Already on the horizon is a new runway at the Santa Teresa Airport that would be capable of taking heavy transports. Mre tracks are alsocoming at the intermodal. All of this means that Santa Teresa could be attracting businesses and exports for years to come.
Pacheco also said that the $1.5 billion figure is likely a low estimate, due to trade from New Mexico to Mexico that goes through El Paso and is counted as originating in Texas instead of New Mexico.
