Turkey saw only a marginal positive moderation in the health of its manufacturing sector in September, according to the Istanbul Chamber of Industry Türkiye Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) published on October 2.

The headline PMI rose to 49.6 in September from 49.0 in August. Any figure lower than 50.0 signals a contraction.

Commenting on the survey data, Andrew Harker, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: "There were signs of stabilisation in the Turkish manufacturing sector during September as some firms reported that demand had held up well over the month.

“Although business conditions remained challenging overall, the latest data provide some hope that a return to growth can be recorded before the end of the year. One help to firms in September was a marked easing of inflationary pressures amid some relative currency stability."

The health of Turkish manufacturing has softened in three successive months. Production in September eased for the third month running, but only marginally and to a lesser extent than in the previous survey period, said S&P.

It added: “Where output moderated, this was generally a reflection of weak market conditions and a slowdown in new orders. On the other hand, some firms saw demand hold up over the month. Both total new orders and new export business eased further in September, but at a softer pace than in August.

“A common theme among anecdotal evidence from panellists was that price pressures had restricted customer demand. Input costs continued to rise sharply at the end of the third quarter amid ongoing currency weakness. The rate of inflation was much slower than in August, however, and the weakest overall since May. In turn, the pace of output price inflation also eased markedly from the previous survey period.”