Creamer Media Login

Power cuts slow South African private sector activity in March – PMI

3rd April 2019

Font size: - +

Activity in South Africa's private sector contracted sharply in March, a survey showed on Wednesday, with firms citing electricity blackouts as the main drag on business.

IHS Markit's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) slipped to 48.8 from February's 50.2 as falls in new orders and employment saw output contract by the most in four months.

The reading was below the 50-point mark separating expansion from contraction for the sixth time in seven months.

Firms surveyed said interruptions to production were mainly due to rolling electricity blackouts. South Africa was plunged into stretches of darkness lasting hours in March as faults at state utility Eskom's coal-fired power stations squeezed supply.

"The promise shown by February's data was quickly overturned in March ... Companies squarely lay the blame at frequent power cuts due to load-shedding at Eskom, leading to lower activity for those affected," sad IHS Markit economist David Owen.

"As a result, firms reported an unprecedented fall in selling charges, highlighting their striving to recover sales."

Cost inflation, a measure of the growth in price of manufacturing inputs like labour, water and power, was at a record low, reflecting prolonged weak demand due to subdued consumer confidence.

Large South African retailers including supermarket giant Shoprite have indicated they are reluctant to pass on price increases to customers, instead extending discount promotions that keep store price inflation well below national rates.

Edited by Reuters

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

Click Here

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

➕

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

➕

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION

➕