India’s manufacturing sector rebounded after 30-month low

01 Nov 2011 Evaluate

India’s manufacturing sector in October recovered for the first time in last six months on the back of improved conditions in the sector, which reflected rise in domestic orders for new business. The HSBC Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) increased to 52 in October from 50.4 in September. However survey said that the rate of growth was modest, but stronger than in last survey period.

The new order index, an indicator of future output increased after six successive declines. The factor output index also surged to 52.7 in October after declining for five consecutive months to 51.1 in September. As per the survey, the purchasing activities in manufacturing sector also increased in October compared to previous month. This increase in purchasing was in line with the strong growth of new orders and output.

However, in October, the input prices faced by the manufacturing in India increase considerably. The rate of cost inflation was broadly unchanged since September and strong in the context of historical data. Higher raw material and transport costs were the main drivers of the increase in costs. Output prices rose markedly, although the need to remain competitive limited the extent of the increase, the survey said.

Leif Eskesen, Chief Economist for India & ASEAN at HSBC said 'The Indian manufacturing sector rebounded in October, with rising orders pulling up output. Tight capacity is evident from rising backlogs of work, lengthening supplier delivery times and reported difficulties filling vacancies. Not surprisingly, input and output prices continued to rise at a rapid pace.'

The headline inflation measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) stood 9.72% in September, which is marginally less from 9.78% in August. The headline inflation has hovering around two digit marks from December 2010 despite the Reserve Bank of India’s anti inflationary monetary policy stance. Since March 2010, the RBI has increased its repo and reverse repo rates for 13 times. But this non-stop hike in RBI’s key policy rates has affected the pace of investment into economy, hence the growth of industrial sector. 

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