India Manufacturing Growth Improves Amid Easing Price Pressures

(RTTNews) - India's manufacturing activity expanded at a faster pace in November amid strengthening client demand and more favorable input supply, along with easing price pressures, the results of the purchasing managers' survey from S&P Global showed on Friday.

The manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI, rose to 56.0 in November from 55.0 in October.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector. The expected score was 56.0.

New orders grew sharply in November on the back of positive demand trends, greater client requirements, and favorable market conditions. Meanwhile, new export orders grew at the slowest pace in five months.

However, companies signaled higher demand for orders from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the US.

Consequently, output increased substantially in the middle of the final quarter and at an above-trend pace.

Manufacturing employment grew for the eighth successive month as new work in the pipeline and a healthy demand environment spurred recruitment.

Indian manufacturers showed optimism regarding the outlook, with firms seeing opportunities in the form of demand strength, marketing initiatives, and new clients making enquiries about a wide range of products.

On the price front, input price inflation eased to the lowest in the current 40-month sequence of increases. Output charges also increased at the weakest pace in seven months.

"Prices for raw materials and components still rose in November, but improved availability at suppliers amid subdued global demand for inputs led to a considerable retreat in cost pressures," Pollyanna De Lima, economics associate director at S&P Global, said.