The survey’s headline figure is the HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI) – a composite indicator designed to give a single-figure snapshot of operating conditions in the manufacturing economy. Readings above 50.0 indicate an overall improvement in business conditions, below 50.0 an overall deterioration. The PMI registered 47.6 in January, down from 48.9 in December and indicative of the sharpest deterioration in overall business conditions in the Russian manufacturing sector since June 2009. The PMI has been in negative territory 13 times in the past 19 months. Russian manufacturing new orders declined for the second month running in January, following a five-month sequence of growth between July and November last year. The rate of decline accelerated slightly since December and was the fastest since last April. International demand continued to weigh on overall new business inflows, as new export orders fell for the seventeenth consecutive month and at the strongest rate since October. Falling new business resulted in a drop in manufacturing output for the first time since last May. The rate of contraction was modest overall, but nevertheless the strongest signalled since March 2014. Although production fell, the volume of outstanding business at manufacturers declined at the strongest rate since January 2009.
