Russian factory growth steadies as new export orders drop -PMI

(Reuters) – Activity in Russia’s manufacturing sector grew at the same pace in November as in October, even as new export orders contracted for the first time since July, a business survey showed on Friday.

The S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing remained at 53.8 in November, the same level as in October and staying above the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction. It was still the second-highest reading since January 2017.

“New orders continued to expand sharply in November, despite a dip in exports, supporting further increases in output, employment and purchasing activity,” S&P Global said in a statement.

“While demand overall remained buoyant, data suggested that this was mainly centred on domestic customers as new export orders decreased for the first time in four months.”

Moscow is spending heavily on manufacturing, pouring cash into the defence sector to ramp up military production following its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The sector’s growth in the more than 21 months since then has been largely predicated on domestic demand.

Inflation and logistical upheaval are causing some headaches for firms. Higher supplier charges and currency weakness saw increased costs in November, S&P Global said.

“Logistical issues continued to hamper the efforts of manufacturers to secure inputs,” S&P Global said. “Lead times have now lengthened on a monthly basis throughout the past four years.”

Expectations of future output remained elevated, with new order growth and import substitution supporting the optimistic outlook, S&P Global said.

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