Russia: Manufacturing PMI picks up in October
The IHS Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at 51.6 in October, up from September’s 49.8. October’s result marked the strongest reading since May. As a result, the index rose above the 50-threshold, signaling an improvement in business conditions from the previous month.
The renewed improvement in operating conditions was chiefly driven by sturdier growth in output and new business, amid healthier domestic demand which more than offset shrinking export orders. In turn, manufacturing increased employment in the surveyed month, thus ending a four-month sequence of job shedding. On a less positive note, backlogs of work continued to decline in October, while production capacity was still hampered by supply-chain disruptions which lengthened lead times further.
Meanwhile, the rate of cost inflation eased to an over one-year low at the outset of Q4. That said, firms continued to partially pass on higher input prices to consumers, with the pace of charge inflation accelerating from the previous month. Lastly, output expectations for 2020 remained largely positive on hopes of a healthy demand ahead.