Kansas City Southern Railroad bullish on Mexico Trade
Earlier today Pat Ottensmeyer, chief marketing officer of the KC Southern railroad spoke before a gathering of the Greater Kansas City Chapter of the Association of Corporate Growth. He was clear in his message to those in attendance: the Kansas City Southern Railroad is bullish on Mexico trade, and you should be too.
The fact that Ottensmeyer and his employer have confidence in the U.S. – Mexican trade relationship is borne out by the fact that KC Southern has 6,100 miles of track in place that connects the United States with some of Mexico’s highest industrial growth areas.
In his talk to the members of the Association of Corporate Growth, he discussed the importance of Mexico trade to the U.S. economy, and mentioned several facts that highlight the attention that the Mexican government has given to growing the nation’s economy in recent years. He made the observation that in the process of negotiating free trade agreements that involve forty-five countries that Mexico has made itself into one of the world’s foremost export platforms. As a result, the country has been very successful in attracting foreign investment in recent years. As concerns foreign capital inflows into Mexico in 2012, Ottensmeyer mentioned a total of U$ 15.4 billion, and noted that thus far during the current year foreign direct investment captured by Mexico totals US $10.2 billion. According to Ottensmeyer, eighty three percent of this capital influx has been applied to the country’s expanding manufacturing sector.
Much of the reason for a flourishing of the Mexico trade business for the Kansas City Southern is attributable to the fact that the company provides rail transport services for nine automotive plants in the country. The KC Southern will soon have four more automobile industry customers coming on line. Ottensmeyer mentioned to those listening that Mexico will soon take its place among the tenth largest global auto producers.
In terms of the advantages of deepening Mexico trade relations, the KC Southern chief marketing officer pointed out the fact that transportation from Mexico to the U.S. is fifty to eighty percent less costly than it his from China, Mexico’s primary emerging economy rival.
The full original article can be read at the Kansas City Business Journal.