Manufacturing Conditions in ASEAN Continue to Improve: IHS Markit

Jakarta: The ASEAN manufacturing sector recorded a further near-record improvement in operating conditions during January, according to the latest IHS Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI™) data. 
 
The headline PMI was unchanged from December at 52.7 in January, to signal a fourth successive improvement in the health of the manufacturing sector, and one that was the joint second-quickest in the series near 10-year history.
 
"The opening month of 2022 saw a further solid upturn in ASEAN manufacturing conditions, with the PMI unchanged from December and amongst the highest on record. Output growth remained strong, despite slowing slightly, while inflows of new work expanded at a faster pace, in part due to the quickest uplift in export orders in over four years. At the same time, backlogs of work increased at the fastest rate on record, suggesting that firms are struggling to find
spare capacity. As a result, goods producers expanded their staffing levels for the first time since May 2019, albeit only fractionally overall," IHS Markit Economist Lewis Cooper explained in a press release on Thursday.

"In spite of worsening supply delays, cost pressures weakened slightly in January, with the rate of input price inflation the slowest since last September. With growth sustained into 2022, the ASEAN manufacturing sector looks to be in a strong position. Although concerns surrounding the Omicron variant dented business confidence in January, overall, companies remain optimistic that output will increase over the next year and are hopeful that the impact of Omicron on the manufacturing sector will be mild," Cooper added.
 
Singapore again recorded the fastest improvement in manufacturing conditions across the seven constituent ASEAN nations in January. At 58.0, the headline PMI was unchanged on December's near-record reading.
 
Meanwhile, Vietnam's headline reading (53.7) pointed to the strongest upturn since last April during January, with the rate of expansion solid overall. 
Indonesia too recorded solid growth, with the PMI matching that for Vietnam (53.7).
 
Following a marginal decline in December, Thailand's good producing sector returned to expansion territory, with the headline index (51.7) indicative of a marginal upturn overall. 
 
At the same time, manufacturing conditions in Malaysia improved for the fourth month in a row, although the PMI (50.5) signalled a slower rate of increase than in December, and one that was only mild overall.
 
Elsewhere, the Philippines reported stagnant operating conditions during January, with the headline index falling from 51.8 in December to post on the no change mark of 50.0 in January. 
 
Lastly, Myanmar was the only constituent nation to report a deterioration in manufacturing conditions at the start of 2022. At 48.5, the PMI signalled only a marginal rate of decline, but one that was nonetheless faster than in December. 

 
Cek Berita dan Artikel yang lain di Google News