Posted on 04 Mar 2024
China's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector nudged down by a 0.1 index point on month to 49.1 in February, keeping the reading in the contraction zone for the fifth successive month, the latest data released by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on March 1 showed.
The marginal decline in the manufacturing PMI reflected the lower manufacturing activity in the country during last month when the sector was in a traditional lull of production due to the long Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday break, explained Zhao Qinghe, the bureau's senior statistician.
In fact, the key sub-index of production for the manufacturing industry retreated by 1.5 points on month in February after the prior month's rise, the NBS data showed. Meanwhile, the sub-index for new orders remained at the same level of 49 as during January. In addition, both of the two sub-indices for ferrous smelting and fabrication were in the contraction territory in the past month.
The breakdown by the size of enterprises showed that only large-sized manufacturing firms saw their PMIs in expansion at 50.4 last month, though the reading remained steady on month. Conversely, the PMIs of medium-sized manufacturers inched up by 0.2 point on month to reach 49.1, while those of small-sized companies hovered at a low level of 46.4 after the monthly drop of 0.8 point.
Overall, Chinese manufacturers held firm confidence regarding the market development after the CNY holiday, with the sentiment index scoring 54.2 with the on-month climb of 0.2 point.
In February, the PMI for China's non-manufacturing sector increased by 0.7 point from the prior month to 51.4, according to NBS. Nevertheless, the sub-index of business activities in the construction industry slid by 0.4 point on month to 53.5, due to slowed construction works amid the holiday and unfavorable weather conditions across the country last month.
Source:Mysteel Global
