Sentiment in the manufacturing industry in South Africa has risen to its highest in more than two years as business conditions are expected to improve significantly in the next six months.
This is in spite of manufacturing activity shrinking for a second month in a row in June and remained in contractionary territory amid subdued demand conditions.
The seasonally adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) inched up by 1.9 points to reach 45.7 points in June compared to 43.8 in May, remaining below 50 points which separates contraction from expansion.
This May and June manufacturing print followed a very strong start to the second quarter of 54.0 points in April, which was also reflected in solid growth in official manufacturing production data.
Absa said insufficient demand seemed to have weighed heavily on the sectors performance despite the stable electricity supply through the second quarter.
