Manufacturing sector's poor start to the year

JOHANNESBURG - The local manufacturing sector is having a challenging start to the year.

That's according to the latest Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index.

The headline index declined to 43.6 index points in January 2024, down from 50.9 in December.

Worryingly, the decline came on the back of a sharp deterioration in demand and activity.

This is one of the worst levels the index has fallen to outside of the global financial crisis and the pandemic-induced lockdown period of 2020.   

Following an encouraging uptick in December, the business activity index plunged to 37.1 index points in January.

The deterioration was despite lower stages of power cuts compared to the same period last year.