South African business activity picks up slightly in May - PMI

3rd June 2022

By: Reuters

  

Font size: - +

South African private sector activity rose slightly in May as the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal started recovering from severe floods, lifting demand and reducing supply chain delays, a survey showed on Friday.

The S&P Global South Africa Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 50.7 in May from 50.3 in April, remaining above the 50-point mark that separates expansion from contraction.

David Owen, economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the survey pointed to more stable economic conditions, with output and new business recovering slightly after a drop in April.

"Improving conditions in KwaZulu-Natal following the floods allowed vendors to deliver items more quickly," Owen said.

KwaZulu-Natal is still restoring damaged infrastructure and making plans to re-home people displaced after the April floods, which were among the worst to have affected the province in its recorded history and killed hundreds of people.

Despite the uptick in the headline PMI number, the survey showed power cuts and inflationary pressures continued to weigh on activity.

"Firms remained under considerable pressure to increase their prices in May, as global inflation drivers such as higher fuel prices continued to lead to higher operating costs," Owen said. "Some companies indicated that increased charges had resulted in a reduction in client demand, meaning that the overall rise in new business volumes was only marginal."

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?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION