Pic: Shutterstock/thomas koch
Meanwhile, rates of inflation and supply chain disruption showed signs of easing.
The headline Istanbul Chamber of Industry Turkiye manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to 50.9 in March from 50.1 in February to signal a modest monthly improvement in business conditions in the sector. Any figure greater than 50 indicates overall improvement of the sector.
Operating conditions strengthened to the greatest extent since December 2021. Central to the improvement in the overall health of the sector were renewed expansion in output and new orders during March.
Manufacturing production increased for the first time in 16 months. The rise in Turkish manufacturing production growth in March was only slight, however.
Some firms continued to face disruption as a result of February's earthquake, but others reported having restarted production. Reconstruction efforts in the affected regions also led to higher output in some cases, S&P Global said in a release.
New orders, meanwhile, returned to growth for the first time in a year-and-a-half as new business increased solidly over the month. A similar pace of expansion was seen for new export orders, which rose for the first time in a year.
Despite the increase in production requirements, employment dipped for the first time in five months, in part due to the earthquake but also as a result of the new early retirement law.
Manufacturers could deal with new order inflows and work through outstanding business, but there were some signs of capacity pressures emerging as the rate of depletion in backlogs of work was the softest in 13 months.
Both input costs and output prices rose sharply again in March amid higher raw material costs, currency weakness and increased wages.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)