Asian factories shake off lockdown blues, now face supply headaches
Asia’s factory activity stepped up a gear in October as emerging economies saw COVID-19 infections subside, but rising input costs, material shortages and slowing Chinese growth cloud the outlook, business surveys showed on Monday.
Policymakers in the region face pressures on multiple fronts as they steer their economies out of the pandemic-induced doldrums while also trying to keep prices under control amid rising commodity costs and parts shortages.
China’s factory activity expanded at its fastest pace in four months in October, the private sector Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed on Monday, as dwindling COVID-19 cases drove up domestic demand.
Factory activity in October expanded in Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia as operations gradually normalised after being hit by shutdowns caused by a spike in COVID-19 infections.
Taiwan saw manufacturing activity growth accelerate on robust chip demand, while Japan’s factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in six months in October in an encouraging sign for the world’s third-largest economy.
India’s factory activity expanded at its quickest pace in eight months in October, pointing to an extended business recovery in Asia’s third-largest economy.
In a sign of the patchy nature of the region’s recovery, however, South Korea’s factory activity rose at the slowest pace in 13 months in October on shrinking output and softer demand.
Material shortages and delivery disruptions drove up Japan’s input prices by the most in over 13 years.
Asia’s emerging economies have lagged advanced economies in recovering from the pandemic’s pain as delays in vaccine rollouts and a spike in Delta variant cases hurt consumption and factory production.
Reference: Reuters
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