Poland: Manufacturing PMI close to three-year high in December
The manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), released by IHS Markit on 2 January, rose to a 34-month high of 55.0 in December, up from 54.2 in the prior month. It therefore moved further above the 50-point threshold that separates expansion from contraction in the manufacturing sector, where it has been for over three years, the longest expansionary sequence since the survey started in June 1998.
December’s strong print was underpinned by faster expansions in employment, output and new orders, with new orders growing at the fastest pace since February 2015. Growth in new orders benefited from buoyant domestic demand, but overseas orders also expanded at a healthy pace. This translated into firms hiring more staff and accumulating more stocks. The increase in employment and output, moreover, allowed firms to maintain backlog orders virtually unchanged from the previous month. On the price front, input cost inflation decelerated somewhat but remained robust, leading output prices to rise at an accelerated pace. Business sentiment was once again buoyant in December, hitting the highest reading in eight months, with firms resolutely positive in their expectations on the future economic situation and new orders.
Trevor Balchin, Economics Director at IHS Markit, commented on the positive momentum in manufacturing activity, adding that, “The headline PMI has now risen four times in five months from its 2017 low in July, helping it reach its highest annual average since 2006 and the second-best since the survey began in 1998.”