S&P Global: Russia’s Manufacturing PMI rises to 54.6 in December

MOSCOW, Dec 29 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) grew to 54.6 in December from 53.8 in November, climbing even higher above the 50 point no-change mark, S&P Global said in a statement on Friday.

“The Russian manufacturing sector continued to expand in December, as the performance of the sector improved at the strongest rate in almost seven years,” the statement read.

Output of Russian manufacturers grew by the fastest rate since May, with the growth linked to strong customer demand and sustained expansion in new orders. Following that, new sales rose sharply with greater client demand being focused on the domestic market as new export orders fell for a second month in a row.

“A sustained rise in new orders led firms to expand their input buying at a stronger pace, in an effort to build capacity amid expectations of future upticks in output,” S&P Global said.

At the same time, input costs continued to increase at a substantial pace, but the pace of charge inflation remained at the level of November. December data also signaled a growth in employment, which supported efforts to deplete order backlogs. Russian companies remain optimistic over the coming 12 months.

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