Manufacturing growth in August falls to 15-month low, sales slow down

PMI survey says competitive pressures and challenging market conditions restricting growth.

Growth in manufacturing activity declined to a 15-month low of 51.4 in August because of slower increase in sales, according to the widely tracked IHS Markit purchasing managers’ index (PMI). This follows subdued value addition by factories in the gross domestic product (GDP) data for Q1FY20.

The previous lowest was in May 2018, when PMI manufacturing was down to 51.2. In July this year, the figure was 52.5. A print above 50 means expansion and below means contraction.

Sales, too, expanded at the slowest rate in 15 months in August. Factories lowered their input purchases for the first time since