MOSCOW (MRC) -- IHS Markit says its US Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) hit a record high of 59.2 in January, indicating robust improvement in the health of the US manufacturing sector, said Chemweek.
However, manufacturers reported significant supply problems, particularly for inputs sourced abroad. IHS Markit’s PMI data extends back to May 2007. The December figure came to 57.1.
"US manufacturing started 2021 on an encouragingly strong footing, with production and order books growing at the fastest rates for over six years,” says Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit.
Demand from both domestic and export customers picked up sharply, buoyed by improved consumer demand as well as equipment purchases and restocking, straining supply lines.
"Manufacturers are encountering major supply problems, however, especially in relation to sourcing inputs from overseas due to a lack of shipping capacity,” Williamson notes. “Lead times are lengthening to an extent not previously seen in the survey’s history, meaning costs are rising as firms struggle to source sufficient quantities of inputs to meet production needs. These higher costs are being passed on to customers in the form of higher prices, which rose in January at the fastest rate since 2008. These price pressures should ease assuming supply conditions start to improve soon, but could result in some near-term uplift to consumer goods price inflation."
We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in November 2020 by 9.5% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased in the first eleven months of 2020 by 6.6% year on year, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-November 2020 output. November production of polymers in primary form rose to 896,000 tonnes from 852,000 tonnes in October. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 9,240,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 17.1% year on year.
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