New Delhi
India’s manufacturing sector activity eased to a nine-month low in June as growth of total sales and production moderated amid intense price pressures, a monthly survey said on Friday.
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 53.9 in June from 54.6 in May, the weakest pace of growth since last September.
The June PMI data pointed to an improvement in overall operating conditions for the twelfth straight month. In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion while a score below 50 denotes contraction.
The Indian manufacturing industry ended the first quarter of fiscal year 2022/23 on a solid footing, displaying encouraging resilience on the face of acute price pressures, rising interest rates, rupee depreciation and a challenging geopolitical landscape, said Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Factory orders and production rose for the twelfth straight month in June, but in both cases the rates of expansion eased to nine-month lows. Increases were commonly attributed to stronger client demand, although some survey participants indicated that growth was restricted by acute inflationary pressures, the survey said.
According to the survey, monitored firms reported increase for a wide range of inputs — including chemicals, electronics, energy, metals and textiles — which they partly passed on to clients in the form of higher selling prices.
Lima further said there was a broad-based slowdown in growth across a number of measures such as factory orders, production, exports, input buying and employment as clients and businesses restricted spending amid elevated inflation.
