Companies in the Malaysia, Mexico, Turkey and Vietnammanufacturing PMI® panels were invited to take part in a specialreshoring survey in May 2024. Firms offered their insightssurrounding the impact of reshoring on order books, theirexpectations for the year ahead and anticipated challenges. Thedata were also analysed by detailed sector, region and companyworkforce size.
In short, the strongest increase in reshoring-related sales(domestic and exports) in the past year was seen in Vietnam, whilemanufacturers in Mexico and Vietnam were the most bullish abouttheir ability to capitalise on reshoring opportunities over thecoming 12 months. In all cases, large firms were most likely tohave seen demand improve as a result of reshoring and were mostoptimistic.
When asked to identify challenges/risks likely to preventfirms from fully capitalising on growth opportunities,manufacturers generally cited the cost/availability of capital as akey obstacle. There were other more specific national issues atplay. In Mexico, security was cited as a key hurdle, while inTurkey and Malaysia shortages of skilled labour featuredprominently. Vietnamese firms were worried about being able toaccess the required technology.
Vietnam leads reshoring growth…
Close to two-fifths of manufacturers in Vietnam (37%) signalledthat they had seen an improvement in demand over the past 12 monthsas a result of reshoring, by far the highest of the four countriesfor which data were collected, where the equivalent figure wasaround the 20% mark in each case. For Mexico, where this survey wasconducted for the second year running, the proportion of companiesreporting growth as a result of reshoring was broadly in line withthat seen in 2023 (18% in 2024 v 19% in 2023).
…and, alongside Mexico, signals strongest degree ofoptimism
While progress over the past year in Mexico has been less thanexpected, manufacturers were increasingly optimistic of seeinggrowth opportunities over the coming year as a result of reshoring.Almost half (47%) of firms in Mexico were optimistic, broadly inline with the figure in Vietnam (46%). Meanwhile, proportions offirms expecting growth linked to reshoring were lower in Malaysia(30%) and Turkey (24%).
