The Australian manufacturing sector is expanding. After a solid string of negative results, the July Performance of Manufacturing Index by Australian Industry Group and PriceWaterhouseCoopers has revealed that manufacturing has somewhat rebounded, recording an expansionary 50.7. This result is an increase of 1.7 basis points from the previous reporting period.
Individual Sector Performance
Of the manufacturing sub-sectors, growth was recorded by the significant food and beverages and smaller wood and paper industries. with a 51.7 and 67.2 respectively.
Although still contracting, the metal products sub-sector managed to arrest the steady decline it has been suffering since mid-2012, recording an increase of 3.6 points for an overall result of 46.5.
As is almost the mantra for the PMI of late, the gap between input costs and selling prices has remained high for the July reporting period. Increases to wages and superannuation and an unexpected rise in inflation have all contributed to the wages sub-sector jumping by a very large 13.1 points.
More Information
The July Performance of Manufacturing Index front page précis can be downloaded by following this link… PMI July 2014
