MEXICO CITY/SAO PAULO – In September, Brazil and Mexico saw their largest economic declines. This was due to a lack of silicon chips in the industry and significant railroad blocks in Mexico.

Brazilian car production fell 21.3% in September to 173,287 units, compared to the same month of 2020 when it was struggling to reopen production after a coronavirus-induced shut down, Anfavea, a Brazilian association for automakers, stated.

Mexico saw a 33.30% drop in auto production between September 2020, 208,092 vehicles and auto exports fall by 24.18%, data from INEGI national stats agency showed.

Worldwide shortages of semiconductor chips have caused major production cutbacks and officials in the automotive industry warned that this problem was only going to get worse.

Grupo Financiero Base analysis has shown that Mexico’s railroad blocks have been in place for 86 days, adding to carmakers’ problems. They began in Michoacan on Oct. 5, and were still in effect until October 5. This is the state in which Lazaro Cardenas was located.

Brazil’s automakers lowered forecasts for output, sales and exports this past year. This was due to a shortage in parts and an economic slowdown.

Anfavea represents major carmakers worldwide, including General Motors (NYSE;), Volkswagen (DE::) in Brazil and Fiat in Brazil. They now anticipate that Brazil’s new vehicle sales will fall by as much or not more than 3% in the coming year. The association forecasted 13% growth in sales by 2020 as of July.

According to Anfavea, vehicle sales in Brazil declined 10.2% between August and September to 155.075 units. Despite this, Brazil’s automotive production increased 5.6% between August and September.