Factory activity continues to contract in Sept

01 Oct 2013 Evaluate

Indian manufacturing activity shrank for a second consecutive month in September mainly on account of declined new orders, showing Asia’s third-largest economy grapples with its worst slowdown in a decade. The HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a headline index designed to measure the overall health of the manufacturing sector, stood at 49.6 points in the month of September, marginally up from 48.5 points in August, indicating moderate contraction in the sector as a reading above 50 indicates growth and below that depicts contraction.

Slowdown in manufacturing sector activities and declined new business orders suggested that an uncertain economic outlook had dampened client confidence and also made manufacturing firms to cut staff. The new orders sub-index increased at 49.6 in the reported month as against 47.5 in August, however it remained below 50 for the fourth consecutive month. However, overall rate of contraction in manufacturing output and new orders contracted at slower rates since August. 

Further, the survey indicated that the contraction of export business accelerated to the sharpest in over two years as the depreciation in rupee value against dollar had resulted in higher prices paid for inputs, which also limited firms’ ability to price competitively. Afterward, Indian manufacturers have also reduced their buying activity for the second month in September. Overall input cost rose sharply with the index measuring purchasing costs climbed to its highest mark in 15 months. Consequently, prices charged by manufacturing firms were raised further, however, the rate of charge inflation was slight and slowest in three months.

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