Posted on 03 Jun 2024
China's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the manufacturing industry decreased slightly in May to reach 49.5, down 0.9 index point from the prior month, according to the latest release by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on May 31.
The retreat was mainly due to the high-level base caused by the fast growth in China's manufacturing industry earlier this year and insufficient effective demand within the sector, Zhao Qinghe, the NBS' senior statistician, commented.
In May, Chinese manufacturers' production stayed in the expansion zone, though the sub-index for production slipped by 2.1 points from the previous month to 50.8.
Demand in the manufacturing sector slowed somewhat in May, and the sub-index for new orders fell below the 50-threshold at 49.6, down another 1.5 points on month, the NBS data showed.
By scale of enterprises, the PMI for large-sized firms has stayed in the expansion zone since the start of this year and the expansion accelerated in May to 50.7, increasing by 0.4 point on month and supporting the recovery in the country's manufacturing industry.
However, the PMIs for both medium-sized and small-sized firms declined in May to reach 49.4 and 46.7, down 1.3 points and 3.6 points respectively on month, according to the NBS statistics.
The pricing index of raw materials procurement maintained the uptrend in May to reach 56.9 due to the growth in prices of some commodities recently, higher by another 2.9 points from that for April.
The sentiment index has hovered above 54 so far this year, indicating that Chinese manufacturers held steady confidence regarding market development, though the reading slipped by 0.9 point on month to 54.3 in May.
The PMI for China's non-manufacturing industry stayed roughly flat in May at 51.1, nudging down by 0.1 point on month. The sub-index for business activities in the construction sector witnessed an on-month fall of 1.9 points to 54.4 in May, suggesting a slowed pace of expansion in this sector.
Source:Mysteel Global
