Turkish manufacturing growth cools down

LONDON/BEIJING - Reuters

Turkish, European and Chinese facttoires have eased back in Macrh, PMI survey showed. AFP photo

Turkish manufacturing growth lost pace in March, with a key manufacturing survey downward risks the domestic demand has come into play in production as well.

“The strength of growth has been tapering off for one month, with both output and new orders registering the weakest increases since last August,” Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed.

The PMI fell to 51.7, from 53.4, the lowest since August, but still above its long-running trend level of 51.0 and the no-change mark of 50.0.

Survey data indicated the domestic market was the main source of the moderation in new business growth, as new export orders increased at a sharper rate than total new work for the first time in seven months, the press release said.  Major economies in Asia and Europe also finished the first quarter on a weaker note, with Markit survey fuelling expectations that policymakers may be forced to act in the coming months to prop up faltering growth.

Factories across Europe eased back on the throttle in March, while China’s vast manufacturing industry contracted for the third month, surveys showed.

“The PMI’s have given a steer on the Chinese economy for a while and it is looking like the People’s Bank of China will take some action,” said Philip Shaw at Investec.

“In the euro area they are tending to confirm that the recovery is taking place gradually, but that there is a broadening of the recovery.”

Output again rose across the board in the eurozone, suggesting its recovery is becoming entrenched, but Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) also revealed that factories were once more cutting prices.

The bloc’s final manufacturing PMI came in at 53.0, matching an earlier flash reading, but below February’s 53.2, while the output price sub-index dropped below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction for the first time since August.

In China, the final Markit/HSBC PMI gauge of factory activity fell to an eight month low of 48.0 in March. It has remained below the 50 level since January.

The official survey, which is geared towards bigger, state-owned firms, showed a marginal increase to 50.3 from 50.2.

But economists warned that given seasonal patterns, this was a sign of further weakness, rather than improvement in the world’s second-biggest economy.