The health of Turkey’s manufacturing industry declined for the 14th month in a row in May, according to the Istanbul Chamber of Industry Türkiye Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), released on June 2.
The headline PMI posted 47.2, a fraction lower than the readings of 47.3 seen in both March and April (any reading below 50.0 denotes a contraction).
Index compiler S&P Global said a “softening demand environment was central to the latest moderation of business conditions”.
Andrew Harker, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: "It was a familiar story for the Turkish manufacturing sector in May, with the PMI data showing similarly paced moderations in a range of key variables as in recent months. Firms will be hoping that growth can be kick-started in the near future.
“There were at least some signs of inflationary pressures easing over the month which could provide some respite for manufacturers."
Business conditions were a factor in May as firms scaled back their production, employment and purchasing activity, said S&P. Meanwhile, input costs continued to rise sharply, often as a result of currency weakness. Output prices were also up. However, weakening demand meant the pace of charge inflation was limited.
New orders eased for the 23rd month in a row, and at a solid pace, S&P noted.
The slowdown was the most marked since last October.