Off the wire
• Sri Lankan gov't trying to evacuate nationals from violence-hit Yemen  • Zambia junior team gears up for Nigeria in All-Africa Games qualifier  • Roundup: 13 civilians abducted, 29 militants killed in Afghanistan  • Roundup: Djibouti concerned over thousands of Yemeni refugees  • Commentary: Accusations against China's new intraregional initiatives goundless  • China plans more cuts to red-tape  • Profile of Nigeria's president-elect Muhammadu Buhari  • Myanmar MP speaks highly of China-advocated "Belt and Road" initiative  • Israel's Netanyahu calls on world to insist on "better" Iran deal  • China receives Norway's application to join AIIB  
You are here: 　 Home

Vietnam's manufacturing output declines in March: HSBC

Xinhua, April 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a composite indicator designed to provide a single- figure snapshot of operating conditions in Vietnam's manufacturing sector, posted 50.7 in March, down from 51.7 in February, but still signalled a strengthening of business conditions in the sector, according to the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC).

In a report released here on Wednesday, the bank said that the sector continued to see improving operating conditions at the end of the first quarter of 2015. Falling prices were again a feature of the latest survey, with firms passing reduced input costs on to their clients.

Central to the latest improvement in business conditions were further rises in both output and new orders. Manufacturing production increased for the 18th successive month, and at a solid pace.

New business continued to rise in March, albeit at a modest pace that was the slowest since October 2014. Meanwhile, new export orders increased, following a fall in the previous month.

After having increased in each of the previous six months, manufacturing employment in Vietnam decreased during March.

A further sharp decline in input costs was primarily linked to lower fuel prices, while other commodities such as steel were also reportedly down in price. Input costs have now decreased in each of the past five months.

Stocks of finished goods also decreased at the sharpest pace since June 2014.

Commenting on the Vietnam Manufacturing PMI survey, Andrew Harker, Senior Economist at Markit said"The Vietnamese manufacturing sector continued its recent solid performance at the end of Q1, with firms able to secure greater numbers of new orders from both domestic and export clients." "Falling commodity prices in world markets continued to feed through to lower input costs, with manufacturers in turn able to pass on cost savings to clients,"said Andrew.

The HSBC Vietnam Manufacturing PMI is based on data compiled from monthly replies to questionnaires sent to purchasing executives in around 400 manufacturing companies on five of individual indices of new orders, output, employment, suppliers' delivery time and stock of items purchased. Endi