PMIs in Southeast Asia see normalisation but far from sustainability
Gradual improvement in the purchasing managing indices (PMIs) across Southeast Asia shows some return to normalisation, but a sustained recovery is still far away, according to a report released by Barclays Research on August 3.
Hanoi (VNA) – Gradual improvement in the purchasing managing indices (PMIs)across Southeast Asia shows some return to normalisation, but a sustainedrecovery is still far away, according to a report released by Barclays Researchon August 3.
PMIs continue to be capped by still-weak demand, the report said,adding that confidence about the business environment in the near-termremains low, mirrored in the employment sub-index, which remains deep incontraction territory for all of Southeast Asia.
According to the report, it is likely that business sentiment is largelyimpacted by external demand conditions - the export orders sub-indexremains materially below pre-COVID-19 levels, even for countries that showedlarge month-to-month improvement in the index reading.
The PMI reading for July in Indonesia andThailand showed improvement over June's data following some lifting of restrictionslast month, Barclays noted.
However, it said the improvement in Thailand has been much slower thanexpected, despite the country urgently re-opened its economy. Meanwhile, the Philippines' manufacturing PMIdeclined to 48.4 points, down from 49.6 in June, due to impacts of tighteningrules to prevent COVID-19 in some parts of the country such as Cebu, it said.
As Manila moves back into a tighter lockdown from August 4, Barclays said it isexpecting the Philippines' PMI to fall deeper into contraction territory inAugust.
For now, Malaysia is the only country in Southeast Asia that has its PMI to bearound 50-point level, reaching 51 in June and 50 in July./.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) of the Philippines in manufacturing rose to 52.3 points in February from 52.1 last January in spite of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to London-based global information provider IHS Markit Ltd (IHS Markit).
The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) that gauges manufacturing conditions in Singapore slumped to an 11-year low in April, as firms struggled with order cancellations as a result of global coronavirus containment measures.
The Vietnamese manufacturing sector saw an intensification of the downturn last month with Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) decreasing to 32.7 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).
The Vietnamese manufacturing sector returned to growth in June as success in suppressing the coronavirus pandemic and greater business confidence helped lead to renewed expansions in output and new orders.
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Thailand expects to export about 1 million tonnes of durian, valued at an estimated 130 billion THB (3.53 billion USD) this year, with most of the shipments to China, according to Minister of Agriculture Thammanat Prompao.
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Illustrative image (Photo: Reuters) 
