Jakarta: ASEAN manufacturing conditions continued to improve sharply during December, according to the latest IHS Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI™) data.
The headline PMI remained well above the neutral 50.0 level in December, signalling a third successive monthly improvement in the health of the ASEAN manufacturing sector.
Moreover, rising from 52.3 in November to 52.7 in December, the latest
reading was indicative of an accelerated pace of improvement that was the second-fastest on record.
"The ASEAN manufacturing sector rounded off 2021 with another solid performance. Business conditions continued to rebound, with the PMI ticking up on the month to produce an average reading for the fourth quarter that was the highest on record. Growth in December was again driven by sustained rises in output and new work, the rate of growth in the former accelerating notably to a near-record pace," IHS Markit Economist Lewis Cooper stated in a press release on Tuesday.
"At the same time, inflationary pressures intensified slightly, as cost burdens were again pushed up by ongoing supply problems, with the rates of cost and average charge inflation amongst the steepest on record. Nonetheless, firms' expectations for output over the coming year improved on the month, with sentiment the strongest since May 2019. Indeed, the ASEAN manufacturing sector remains in a strong position as we enter 2022, with the latest rebound showing little-signs of slowing," he stated.
Five of the seven constituent ASEAN nations reported an improvement in manufacturing conditions during the closing month of 2021.
Growth was led by Singapore, where the headline PMI hit an all-time high of 58.0 (joint with April 2013) and signalled a rapid overall upturn.
Meanwhile, Indonesia recorded a fourth straight monthly improvement in conditions. The PMI (53.5) dipped further from October's peak, but nonetheless pointed to a sharp rate of expansion.
Elsewhere, both Malaysia and Vietnam reported stronger upturns during December. In the former, the PMI ticked up to an eight-month high of 52.8 and signalled a strong improvement in the health of the sector. Vietnam's headline reading (52.5) was also the highest since last May.
The Philippines was the only other constituent nation to record an improvement in manufacturing conditions during December. At 51.8, the PMI pointed to a rate of growth little changed from November and moderate overal.
At the same time, Thailand saw a fresh deterioration in manufacturing conditions. The headline index dipped below the 50.0 mark for the first time since September, though at 49.5, was indicative of only a slight contraction overall.
Finally, Myanmar remained in contraction territory for the sixteenth month running in December. That said, the PMI (49.0) ticked up to the highest in this sequence and signalled only a marginal rate of deterioration.
Cek Berita dan Artikel yang lain di Google News
FOLLOW US
Ikuti media sosial medcom.id dan dapatkan berbagai keuntungan
