Doubts remained about sustaining the upturn, however, amid reports of clients front-loading purchases to mitigate expected price rises and supply chain disruption.
Global manufacturing production growth accelerated to a near five-year high in May, PMI data indicated.
The J.P. Morgan global manufacturing PMI was 52.6 in May, unchanged from April, to stay above its neutral 50 mark for the tenth month in a row.
All five of the PMI sub-components were at levels normally consistent with improved operating conditions.
Business optimism also dipped to a seven-month low.
The J.P. Morgan global manufacturing PMI—a composite index produced by J.P. Morgan and S&P Global Market Intelligence in association with the Institute of Supply Management and the International Federation of Purchasing and Supply Management—posted 52.6 in May, unchanged from April, to remain above its neutral 50 mark for the tenth successive month.
All five of the PMI sub-components—new orders, output, employment, suppliers’ delivery times and stocks of purchases—were at levels normally consistent with improved operating conditions.
Manufacturing production increased for the tenth month running in May, with the rate of expansion the fastest since July 2021.
The solid expansion in China was among the strongest for two years. The rest of Asia saw, on an average, sustained strong output growth in May.
The latest expansion of production volumes was mainly driven by rising new work intakes. Incoming new business rose for the fifth month running and at a pace close to April’s 50-month high.
Employment also rose slightly following back-to-back reductions in March and April.
While the data point to encouraging resilience of the manufacturing economy as the war in the Middle East extended into its third month in May, growth in many cases was buoyed by precautionary stock building as companies sought to buy goods ahead of supply shortages or price rises linked to the war.
Business optimism also dipped to a seven-month low.
Purchasing activity among manufacturers globally rose at the quickest pace since March 2022, leading to the fastest build-up of input stocks for 45 months. Stocks of finished goods also showed little change compared to levels one month earlier.
Average input prices rose to the greatest extent in almost four years, with accelerations in regions such as the United States, the euro area and Japan more than offsetting weaker cost increases in nations including China, India and South Korea.
Average selling prices also rose sharply, with the rate of increase staying close to April’s 45-month high.
Supply chains remained under substantial duress, with lead times lengthening to the same degree as in the prior survey month.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
