Manufacturing activity contracted for the first time in a year in July, when South Africa experienced severe power cuts that dented output, a survey showed on Monday.
The seasonally adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 47.6 points in July from 52.2 in June, falling below the 50-point mark that separates expansion from contraction. This is the first time the index has fallen into negative territory since July 2021.
“Local purchasing managers turned decidedly more downbeat about business conditions going forward amid local electricity woes and concerns about global growth,” Absa said in a statement.
In July, the business activity and new sales orders indices fell deeper into contraction territory. The employment index shifted from expansion to contraction, while the purchasing price index signalled the slowest pace of cost increases since the start of the year. — (c) 2022 Reuters