PMI shows manufacturing’s strong start to the year continues

The strong start to 2021 has continued for the industry, with the Australian Industry Group Performance of Manufacturing Index recording an overall result of 58.8 in February.

The PMI result is up from 55.3 in December/January. Any score above 50 indicates growth, below it contraction, and a score of 50 indicates no change.

Five of six manufacturing sectors recorded results above 50 in the survey for February. Among them was building materials, with its first month of growth since August 2019. Only metal products reported “mildly negative” conditions in the month, according to the Ai Group.

“[B]uoyant conditions [were] reported by manufacturers in food & beverages, machinery & equipment, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, cleaning, rubber, petroleum & related products and TCF, paper & printing products,” it said.

Overall, manufacturing in the country has been in recovery since September 2020, according to PMI results.

Picture: www.aigroup.com.au

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