Economic News: PMIs Show Deterioration In Operating Conditions For Manufacturers That Use Metals
- The IHS Markit Global Steel Users Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), which is designed to give an overview of operating conditions at manufacturers identified as heavy users of steel, dropped from 50.7 in November to 49.8 in December and indicated a slight deterioration in the health of the steel-using industry. All five sub-components of the index (output, new orders, employment, delivery times and stocks of purchases) exerted negative directional pressure, with new orders recording the largest downwards tick.
- The IHS Markit Global Aluminum Users PMI fell below the 50.0 no-change mark in December, posting at 49.8 to indicate a slight deterioration in the health of the aluminum-using industry following two successive months of expansion. There was a “renewed decline in new orders that moderated output growth and led to a reduction in workforce numbers.” Additionally, “Inventories of raw and finished items were also depleted, while input costs ticked up only slightly from November.”
- The IHS Markit Global Copper Users PMI fell from 50.3 in November to 49.7 in December, slipping below the 50.0 neutral mark and indicating the first deterioration in operating conditions since last August. IHS Markit said, “manufacturers using copper saw a moderate drop in total new orders in December, as falling demand at European and Asian users offset a sharp upturn at U.S. manufacturers.”
- As a reminder, all PMI readings can be found here.