Markit: Russia’s Manufacturing PMI rises to 53.7 in December

MOSCOW, Dec 29 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) grew to 53.7 points in December from 53.6 points in November reaching a record high figure for the past five years and nine months, researcher Markit said in a statement on Thursday.

“Russia’s manufacturing upturn continued to strengthen in December. The improvement in the sector’s health was driven by substantial increases in production and new orders, while job creation was at its quickest since March 2011. However, goods producers continued to reduce their inventory holdings while backlogs of work broadly stabilized,” the researcher said.

“Russian goods producers raised their production at a substantial pace during December. Although the rate of increase eased slightly from November’s 68-month high, it continued to outstrip the historical average. At the sub-sector level, the sharpest rate of output growth was seen at investment goods firms.”

“In line with the trend for output, new business growth was evident in Russia’s manufacturing sector during the final month of 2016. “The rise in total new work was restricted to the domestic market, as firms reported a fall in new business from abroad. However, the rate of decline in new export orders was the slowest in 40 months and only slight overall,” the statement read.

End