According to the latest PMI data, operating conditions across the Greek manufacturing sector improved strongly in March.
Article continues below
Output increased at the fastest pace since February 2018 amid more robust client demand.
Subsequently, new business rose at a strong pace and the rise in new exports accelerated.
Greater new order book volumes led to a sharp rate of job creation, the quickest since data collection began in mid-1999.
Manufacturers were more upbeat towards future output growth as well amid expectations of a further upturn in new orders.
The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Greece Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) – a composite indicator designed to measure the performance of the manufacturing economy – registered 54.7 in March, up from 54.2 in February and signalled a strong improvement in the health of the Greek manufacturing sector at the end of the opening quarter of 2019.
The latest data extended the current sequence of growth to 22 months, the longest period of expansion since that which ended in October 2001.
A key contributing factor towards the higher headline PMI figure was a stronger rise in output.
The production upturn accelerated to the fastest for just over a year and was sharp overall.
A number of surveyed manufacturing firms stated that a further rise in demand from domestic and foreign clients drove the increase.
New orders received by goods producing firms continued to increase in March.
Although the rate of growth softened slightly from February, it was strong nonetheless.
The expansion was linked to greater advertising and stronger client demand.
Furthermore, new export orders rose at a quicker rate that was above the series trend, as foreign client demand increased for the eighteenth successive month.
Consequently, firms reported a greater need to expand workforce numbers in order to accomodate increased new order book volumes.
The rate of job creation quickened and was the fastest in the series history.
A stronger rise in employment led to reduced pressure on capacity, with backlogs falling for the second month running.
The pace of contraction was moderate and slower than the series average.
Manufacturers were buoyed by improvements in new business growth and expressed a higher degree of confidence in March.
Moreover, the level of optimism reached an 11-month high.
On the price front, input prices rose at the fastest pace for four months amid higher raw material costs and a poor harvest.
Competitive pressures restricted the pass-through of greater cost burdens to clients, but output charges rose at the quickest rate since September 2018, nonetheless.
Meanwhile, input buying expanded at a stronger pace amid increased production requirements and efforts to replenish raw material stocks.
The rise in purchasing was the fastest since June 2000 and marked overall, despite a faster increase in input prices and longer lead times. ■