September PMI manufacturing comes at 57.5, slowest expansion in 5 months

India’s manufacturing activity dropped five month-low in September, according to S&P Global. Its manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for India fell to 57.5 in September, the lowest since May. In August, the PMI was 58.6. 

The fall in PMI was primarily attributed to a softening in the number of new orders. 

“India’s manufacturing industry showed mild signs of a slowdown in September, primarily due to a softer increase in new orders, which tempered production growth. Nevertheless, both demand and output saw significant upticks, and firms also noted gains in new business from clients across Asia, Europe, North America and the West Asia,” said Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence. 

S&P Global said that while robust demand supported the production growth, it also added to price pressures. 

“The solid increase in output charges signalled by the PMI data, which occurred in spite of a notable retreat in cost pressures, could restrict sales in the coming months,” De Lima added. 

S&P further said that the data showed a general lack of pressure on the capacity of Indian manufacturers and their suppliers. 

“The latter was evident by only a fractional extension in average delivery times, which followed a six-month period of improving vendor performance. Backlogs at goods producers, meanwhile, decreased fractionally overall,” it said. 

“Manufacturers held a strongly positive outlook for production, as they expect demand to strengthen over the course of the coming 12 months,” De Lima added.