Taiwan: Manufacturing PMI plummets in July
The S&P Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) declined from 49.8 in June to 44.6 in July. As a result, the index pointed to a sharper deterioration in business conditions from the previous month, and marked the lowest reading since May 2020.
The fall in the index was mainly driven by the fastest declines in output and new orders in over two years. Moreover, purchasing activity and inventories fell sharply amid weak demand at home and overseas, while business optimism dropped. More positively, input and output price inflation fell to near two-year lows.
Annabel Fiddes, economics associate director at S&P Global, said:
“Lower intakes of new work and increased caution towards the 12-month outlook drove marked falls in purchasing activity and inventories, while the sharpest fall in backlogs of work since late-2011 also adds to indications that current capacity exceeds demand. Therefore, it seems likely that output could be cut further in the months ahead unless we see a marked improvement in client demand.”