(Reuters) – Russia’s manufacturing sector returned to growth in May, supported by a fresh upturn in new orders, even as output contracted for the third month running amid reports of supply shortages, a business survey showed on Monday.
The S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for Russia’s manufacturing sector rose to 50.2 last month from 49.3 in April, moving back above the 50 mark that indicates growth after two months of decline.
New orders saw a marginal increase, marking the fastest growth rate since the start of the year, driven by stronger client demand and new customer acquisitions, the survey showed.
Despite this, foreign client demand remained weak, with new export orders declining for the third consecutive month.
Russia’s significant spending on military equipment and weapons since invading Ukraine in February 2022 has buoyed a manufacturing sector that otherwise may have suffered as some countries shunned Moscow. Industrial output growth has started slowing in the past year, federal data shows.
Russian manufacturers expanded their workforce numbers slightly, attributed to a need to broaden capacity. Backlogs of work decreased for the fourth month in a row, but at the slowest pace in this sequence.
Manufacturers expressed optimism about the outlook for output over the coming year.
“Optimism among companies reportedly stemmed from investment in production processes and product ranges, alongside hopes of strengthening demand conditions,” S&P Global said.
(Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Toby Chopra)
