PMI fra Markit for Kina – læs hele meddelelsen her
“The Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI rebounded to
50.1 in March from a record low the previous month, indicating
limited improvement in manufacturing activity after
widespread economic stagnation in February. The data in the
survey, which was conducted from March 12 to March 23,
reflected that manufacturers were still gradually getting back
to work. The March expansion in the manufacturing sector
returned to a level seen before the coronavirus epidemic.
1) Manufacturing output expanded, but orders declined. Since
Feb. 21, the epidemic has worsened outside China, with the
number of overseas infections amounting to 394,000 as of
Wednesday. The U.S., Europe and Iran are among the worst-hit
regions. On the contrary, the epidemic has been basically
contained in China. The worsening situation overseas is
another blow to manufacturing demand. The subindex for
total new orders stayed in contractionary territory for the
second straight month in March, while the gauge for new
export orders was still way below levels seen before the
epidemic.
2) Stocks of purchased items shrank in March, inventories of
finished goods expanded, and backlogs of work continued to
grow, reflecting insufficient business resumption. Constrained
by the downturn in new orders and restrictions on logistics and
the movement of people, manufacturers did not increase raw
material inventories. The subindex for stocks of purchased
items rebounded slightly from the previous month’s record
low, remaining in negative territory and at a relatively low
level in recent years. The measure for stocks of finished goods
returned to positive territory due chiefly to disrupted
transportation. The gauge for backlogs of work was still at a
relatively high level despite dropping slightly.
3) Prices of industrial products continued to fall. The gauge for
input costs was still higher than that for output prices,
although both were in contractionary territory. As
consumption and other types of demand did not fully recover,
downstream manufacturers were under greater pressure than
their upstream counterparts to cut prices. Declines in raw
material prices were largely transmitted to the prices of
finished goods.
4) Manufacturers were still quite confident about the next 12
months, although the gauge for future output expectations fell
slightly from the previous month. Employment was also
relatively stable. The employment subindex returned to the
normal level before the epidemic outbreak, despite staying in
negative territory. The good news was that fundamental
economic factors, such as business confidence and resident
income, did not deteriorate substantially
