Europe/PMI-In Germany, the contraction is accentuated in the manufacturing sector | Photo credits: Emanuele / CC BY-SA 2.0
BERLIN, October 3 – German manufacturing activity contracted for the third month in a row in September, weighed down by a steepening drop in new orders due to soaring energy costs, results showed on Monday data from S&P Global surveys.
The PMI index fell to 47.8, its lowest level since June 2020, against 49.1 in August and 48.3 for the first estimate.
The new orders index rose to 39.1 from 40.9, as data indicated that higher prices and a deteriorating outlook prompted a growing number of customers to postpone or cancel orders.
Phil Smith, associate director at S&P, said in a statement that “the soaring cost of energy, which has already led some companies to cut production, has set off alarm bells. Manufacturers’ forecasts for production future plummeted following the closure of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.”
“If demand continues to decline in the coming months as professionals predict, the impact of rising costs will certainly become more and more difficult, which will have the effect of compressing margins,” he said. he adds. (Written by Paul Carrel, French version Laetitia Volga, edited by Kate Entringer)