Turkish manufacturing PMI falls to 50.5 in January

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkiye’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector decreased to 50.5 in January from a month ago, according to data released on Tuesday.

Down from 52.1 in December due to price pressures, January's reading was the lowest in eight months, a monthly report by the Istanbul Chamber of Industry and London-based global data firm IHS Markit showed.

Thanks to employment and suppliers’ delivery times sub-indices, January's reading held on above the threshold level for the eighth consecutive month.

The report highlighted that firms will secure new work as input costs and output prices continued to rise sharply, contributing to moderations in new orders and production.

New export orders also slowed in January, ending a seven-month sequence of growth.

With new orders easing, firms scaled back their production and purchasing activity, in both cases for the second month running, it added.

Despite eased workloads, employment continued rising during the last 20 months, although the rate of job creation was the softest in this sequence in January.

"Difficulties around the sourcing of raw materials, logistics and price rises all contributed to a further lengthening of suppliers’ delivery times, although data suggested that disruption was much less pronounced than in December," it added.