UK manufacturing sector contracts for 9th consecutive month in Nov

The downturn in new orders, although still solid, also slowed during the month.

Manufacturers nonetheless remained on a cautious footing, with ongoing market uncertainty and the need to control costs leading to job losses, stock depletion and lower purchasing, S&P Global said in a release.

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global-Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) UK manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) posted 47.2 in November, up from 44.8 in October, rising for the third successive month to its highest level since April.

The PMI has been below the neutral 50 mark in each of the past 16 months.

November saw all five of the PMI components—new orders, output, employment, suppliers' delivery times and stocks of purchases—remain at levels consistent with a deterioration in operating conditions, albeit to lesser extents than in the prior survey month.

The downturn in production was led by UK manufacturers focussed on business-to-business and capital spending , S&P Global said in a release.

The main factors underlying the further scaling back of production were weaker domestic demand, decreased intakes of new export business and destocking at both manufacturers and their clients.

Total new orders fell for the eighth successive month, while the downturn in new export business extended to 22 consecutive months.

New export business was affected by strong international competition hurting sales to several overseas markets including China, Europe and the United States.

Job losses were registered for the fourteenth successive month in November this year. Cuts at medium- and large-scale producers were only partly offset by modest jobs growth at small manufacturers.

Input buying activity was reduced for the seventeenth month in a row, in part reflecting intentional destocking. Inventories of inputs and finished products were depleted during November. In both cases, the falls were linked to efforts to protect cash flow and softer market demand.

Input costs continued to fall during November.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)