The Manufacturing PMI in Sri Lanka fell to 54.3 in November of 2018 from 58.2 in October. Slowdowns were seen in new orders (54 from 59), production (54 from 61) and stock of purchases (57.5 from 61). Lower increases in new orders and production were recorded mainly in manufacturing of textiles, wearing apparels, leather and related activities while new orders and production of food and beverages activities improved with the Christmas season demand. Employment growth was unchanged (at 55) due to difficulties in recruiting additional employees, especially in manufacturing of furniture activities. Also, suppliers’ delivery time lengthened (52.5 from 54) mainly driven by a reduction of lead time on demand, for supplies related to manufacturing of food and beverages activities to speed up their production. Manufacturing Pmi in Sri Lanka averaged 55.87 from 2015 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 67.30 in May of 2015 and a record low of 41.60 in April of 2016.
Manufacturing Pmi in Sri Lanka is expected to be 55.90 by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Manufacturing Pmi in Sri Lanka to stand at 54.80 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Sri Lanka Manufacturing PMI is projected to trend around 58.90 in 2020, according to our econometric models.