Poland: Manufacturing PMI improves slightly in September
The S&P Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at 43.0 in September, up from 40.9 in August. However, the index remained firmly entrenched below the 50-threshold, signaling another significant deterioration in business conditions compared to the prior month.
Softer, albeit still marked, contractions in output and new orders were behind the headline uptick. Declining domestic and external demand continued to weigh on new orders. Meanwhile, employment decreased for the fourth consecutive month and at a faster pace. On the price front, the increase in input costs accelerated from the previous month, and output prices continued to rise significantly. Lastly, firms’ sentiment about future output improved slightly from August but remained subdued, weighed down by weak sales and high inflation.
Commenting on the latest survey results, Paul Smith, economics director at S&P Global, said:
“Uncertainty about the economic trajectory remains prevalent everywhere, not just in product markets, but amongst manufacturers themselves.”
Meanwhile, Piotr Poplawski, senior economist at ING, stated:
“The index has recorded very strong declines in recent months, but these have not been reflected even roughly in the actual industrial production data. Therefore, in the case of the improvement indicated in the September report, we do not assume that this will have a clearly positive impact on hard data readings.”