ISO Turkey PMI unchanged at 49.5 in December

Istanbul Chamber of Industry Turkey Manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers' Index) was unchanged at 49.5 in December compared to the previous month.

The headline Istanbul Chamber of Industry Turkey Manufacturing PMI is a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance. It is derived from indicators for new orders, output, employment, suppliers' delivery times and stocks of purchases. Any figure greater than 50.0 indicates overall improvement of the sector.

Commenting on the Istanbul Chamber of Industry Turkey Manufacturing PMI survey data, Andrew Harker, Associate Director, IHS Markit, said: "The Turkish manufacturing sector remained on the road to recovery at the end of 2019, according to the latest PMI data. Recent increases seen in official industrial production data therefore look set to continue. While still facing challenging business conditions and a soft international demand environment, manufacturers will be more confident looking ahead to 2020 than when they were ahead of the move into 2019 this time last year."According to ISO Turkey Manufacturing PMI December survey findings: "The headline PMI was unchanged at 49.5 in December, signalling a slight moderation in business conditions. The December reading was above the average for 2019 as a whole."Production rose for the second month running at the end of 2019. Although marginal, the expansion was stronger than that seen in November. Respondents indicated that signs of improvement in new orders had encouraged them to increase output."The picture for new business was broadly stable, with a marginal slowdown recorded. New export orders continued to ease, but at the softest pace in five months."A second consecutive moderation of employment suggested that manufacturers had sufficient workforce numbers to cope with current workloads. This was backed up by a further reduction in outstanding business.""Firms did expand their purchasing activity at the end of the year in line with greater production requirements. This helped lead to a stabilization of stocks of purchases for the first time in almost two years. Stocks of finished goods continued to fall, however, with the rate of production growth insufficient to support a rise in inventories."Although the rate of input cost inflation quickened from November's near five-year low, it remained much weaker than the series average. Where input prices rose, panellists again linked this to currency weakness.

"The increase in cost burdens led firms to raise their selling prices modestly. This ended a three-month sequence of falling charges." (Graph)