Poland: PMI logs a six-month high in January
The IHS Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) ticked up to 51.9 in January, from December’s 51.7 and marking the best reading since July last year. As such, the index moved further above the 50-threshold, signaling an improvement in business conditions compared to the previous month.
January’s reading largely reflected growing new orders. In particular, new export orders rose at the quickest clip in three years in the month, suggesting the improvement was export-driven. That said, production contracted for the third month straight in January amid capacity constraints. On the price front, input cost inflation jumped to the highest since April 2011 due to raw material shortages and persisting supply-chain bottlenecks. Moreover, output charges rose at the fastest rate since July 2018, as firms passed on costs to customers. Lastly, despite falling output, firms remained confident about the outlook for the coming twelve months in January, although sentiment weakened slightly from December’s 31-month high.