PMI remains steady at 49.2 in May

LONDON 

Turkey’s headline Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was unchanged at 49.2 in May, S&P Global’s monthly report showed yesterday.

The reading signalled a third successive moderation in the health of the manufacturing sector, albeit one that remained only marginal.

Any figure greater than 50.0 indicates overall improvement in the sector.

“The latest PMI survey data signalled that business conditions in the Turkish manufacturing sector remained subdued in May amid muted customer demand and ongoing price pressures,” the report said.

Supply-chain disruption and rates of inflation eased over the month and firms continued to expand their workforce numbers.

Both output and new orders slowed during May, extending the current periods of easing to six and eight months respectively as customer demand remained subdued, according to the survey.

Meanwhile, new export orders eased to the greatest extent in two years, with some firms highlighting an economic slowdown in Europe.

“There were further signs of inflationary pressures easing midway through the second quarter. While input costs increased sharply amid rising raw material prices and exchange rate fluctuations, the rate of inflation eased for the fifth month in a row to the softest since February 2021. A slower rise in output prices was also signalled,” it said.

Manufacturers continued to raise employment as part of efforts to expand capacity. Staffing levels were up for the twenty-fourth month running.

“There were some signs that doing business might start to get easier soon. In particular, supply chain constraints were the least pronounced since September 2020, while cost inflation eased for the fifth month running” commented Andrew Harker, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.