Manufacturing Sector Growth Slips To 10-Month Low Amid Lesser Demand: Report

The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by IHS Markit, fell to 50.8 in May, its lowest since July 2020, just above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction.

The country's factory activity growth slowed significantly in May as an escalation in coronavirus cases whacked new orders and output while scarcity of raw materials drove up input costs, a private sector survey showed on Tuesday. Although daily infection rates have started falling in the past few days there are concerns about underreporting of cases due to a dearth of testing in rural areas. India has already reported around 28 million coronavirus cases and over 300,000 deaths, leading many states to impose restrictions affecting economic activity. The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by IHS Markit, fell to 50.8 in May from 55.5 in April, its lowest since July 2020. That was only just above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction. "Key gauges of current sales, production and input buying weakened noticeably in May and pointed to the slowest rates of increase in ten months. In fact, all indices were down from April," noted Pollyanna De Lima, economics associate director at IHS Markit. "That said, the detrimental impacts of the pandemic and associated restrictions seen in the manufacturing sector are considerably less severe than during the first lockdown when unprecedented contractions had been recorded."