The Freedom Holding Corp. Kazakhstan Manufacturing PMI® (Purchasing Managers’ IndexTM) remained below the 50.0 no-change mark in October, dropping to 48.3 from 49.2 in September. The headline index has now signaled a worsening of operating conditions in each of the past five months.
October saw a renewed reduction in new orders in the Kazakh manufacturing sector, with new business down modestly following a slight rise in September. The fall in new orders mainly reflected muted customer demand, while some firms also indicated that ongoing repair work meant that they were not in a position to take on new business.
Some manufacturers highlighted difficulties in receiving imported goods due to stringent customs checks at the border with Russia. This also contributed to a further sharp rise in input costs, with selling prices increasing accordingly.
According to Erlan Abdikarimov, director of the Financial Analysis Department at Freedom Finance Global Plc., October showed a pronounced and noticeable contraction in business activity in Kazakhstan’s manufacturing sector.
«New orders fell for the second time in three months amid weak demand and maintenance work at some firms. Survey respondents also highlighted other issues, including a weakening tenge, rising delays due to tighter customs checks at the border, higher logistics costs and an accumulation of stocks of finished goods. Growth in firms’ selling prices remained resilient and registered a slight acceleration. Optimism among surveyed companies about future output improved markedly for the second month running,» he said.
The PMI from S&P Global is an economic indicator closely monitored by economists, analysts and the business community. The combined GDP of the countries for which the index is published represents about 85% of the world’s total. Major financial information platforms, including Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters, widely cover the index.
