Turkey’s industrial activity barely increased for a second month in a row in February, a survey showed on Tuesday, in the middle of lively price ups and downs in production due to breakdowns of natural gas and electricity.
The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for Turkish manufacturing stood at 50.4 in February, from 50.5 in January, Istanbul Chamber data of Industry (ISO) and IHS Markit showed.
It remained above the 50.0 mark which denotes growth for nine consecutive months.
New orders continue to decline for a fifth month in February due to market uncertainty and strong price get up, the panel noted. Inflation in Turkey has approached 50% in January, mainly due to a decline in currencies at the end of last year.
Input costs have risen sharply last month due to higher prices for raw materialsenergy and transportation and rising wages, some of which have been exacerbated by the weak currency, he said, adding that this has led to higher selling price.
Last month, Iran cut off gas flows to Turkey due to a failure. Scheduled gas and electricity cuts in industrial facilities caused some companies to stop production.
Failures hit production volumes and production declined for a third consecutive month, the panel noted. Arrears also increased due to energy shortages, as well as delivery delays.
Manufacturers have increased their workforce to improve operating ability, he says, leading has a rise in use for a 21st consecutive month.
“Disruption of electricity and natural gas supply added to the challenges to be faced by Turkish manufacturers and contributed to a slowdown in production in February,” said Andrew Harker, economist director at IHS Markit.
“Meanwhile, the latest PMI data suggests inflationary pressures may have peaked around the turning point of the yearbut cost increases remained strong in the middle of the first quarter.”
