KUALA LUMPUR: New orders in the manufacturing sector continued to decline on the back of the weak demand from domestic and international source.
The headline Nikkei Malaysia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index - a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance – dipped from 50.4 in August to 49.9 in September.
This signalled broadly unchanged business conditions.
On a positive note, firms continued to raise their staffing levels, with the rate of employment growth the second fastest since October 2015.
“On the price front, a sharp and accelerated increase in input costs prompted firms to raise their output charges in order to protect margins, ”it said in a statement.
The PMI average over the third quarter of 2017 as a whole was the highest since the first quarter of 2015.
The fall in the PMI was mainly driven by reduced new business, which declined for the fifth successive month.
Manufacturing output rose further at the end of the third quarter although it has softened from August’s six-month high.
Delivery times shortened for the first time in seven months during September, albeit fractionally.
Commenting on the Malaysian Manufacturing PMI survey data, Aashna Dodhia, economist at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey, said “The underlying indicators that signalled some signs of recovery in the manufacturing sector in August proved to be transitory as operating conditions were broadly unchanged in September.”