Turkey: Manufacturing PMI rises in November

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA

Turkey’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector posted 44.7 in November, up for a second successive month, according to a monthly business survey on Monday.

An Istanbul Chamber of Industry PMI report conducted in cooperation with IHS Markit said marked reductions in inflationary pressures provided some respite for manufacturers in November.

"Business conditions remained challenging, leading to further moderations in output and new orders, but the rates at which they slowed were softer than in October," the report said.

Last month, the PMI climbed 0.4 points compared to October's index value of 44.3.

"Although the reading indicated a further moderation of business conditions, the extent of the slowdown was the weakest in three months.

"Gradual improvements in the lira exchange rate led to a sharp slowdown in rates of both input cost and output price inflation in November," it said.

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate hit a four-month low last week -- around 5.16 -- improved from average USD/TRY rates of 6.38 in September, 5.87 in October, and 5.38 in November overall.

Turkey saw a 21.62-percent annual rise in consumer prices in November, falling 3.62 percentage points from 25.24 percent in October.

"Subdued demand conditions led manufacturers to prefer using existing inventories to support production as opposed to purchasing new inputs," the report said.

"As a result, both input buying and stocks of purchases moderated over the month," it added.

The manufacturing PMI -- derived from indicators for new orders, output, employment, suppliers’ delivery times and stocks of purchases -- is a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance.

An index value above 50 indicates the sector is growing, while a figure below 50 signals a contraction.