Thailand is the top leader in manufacturing volumes in December, according to the report by S&P Global based on the data available of 31 economies.
The Manufacturing PMI output index for December showed Thailand leading the group at 52.5, up from 51.1 in November. The production topped major economies like India and Russia that saw smaller growth, while the U.S., UK, China and Taiwan were among countries that saw contraction.
S&P Global wrote that only nine (out of 31) reported higher production volumes in December, with only marginal growth seen in two of these nine economies. Meanwhile, Thailand and India had outstanding performance for the month with strong and accelerating growth as the diversification of supply chains from China amid the ongoing Covid-19 disruptions helped these top performers in expansion.
Russia also ramped its production, coming in third on the list as the Kremlin looks to boost production to meet domestic demands amid western sanctions.
Still, having less than a third on the list making it above 50 mark in manufacturing PMI shows that global productions remain bearish, driven by an accelerating rate of decline of order books.
“In a marked contrast to earlier in the year, when manufacturing conditions were characterised by firms struggling to source sufficient quantities of raw materials and labour, the end of 2022 saw increasing evidence of producers cutting back sharply on input purchases and reducing headcounts amid growing signs of slumping demand and excess capacity,” S&P Global wrote.
Moreover, S&P Global noted that new orders have been falling at a notably faster pace than the manufacturing output in recent months, especially in December that the rate of decline accelerated further at a record pace since the global financial crisis, excluding the initial months when Covid-19 pandemic started.
“The spread between new orders and output widened further, to one of the largest on record, pointing to an increasing excess of operating capacity relative to current demand,” S&P Global added.
