Kazakhstan’s manufacturing sector continued to expand in March, according to the monthly Kazakhstan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) survey, compiled by S&P Global and Freedom Holding.

“The Kazakhstan manufacturing sector remained comfortably inside growth territory at the end of the opening quarter of the year. Moreover, rates of expansion in output, new orders, employment and purchasing all strengthened in March, while business confidence hit a nine-month high. On the price front, the rate of input cost inflation remained sharp but eased from February, while selling prices rose at the same pace as in the previous month,” the statement accompanying the PMI data said. 

The PMI was recorded at 52.7, above the 50.0 no-change mark and above February’s 52.1.

The country's expansion in the manufacturing sector has lasted for four consecutive months

Yerlan Abdikarimov, director of financial analysis department at Freedom Finance Global (100% subsidiary of the Freedom Holding), said: "March demonstrated a new increase in confidence in the manufacturing sector of Kazakhstan, with the achievement of the fourth highest value of the index PMI in the last 12 months. Despite the positive dynamics of the main factors of production, market confidence is still inferior to the level of the end of last year.”

“The main causes of growth in March are the ongoing active recovery of new orders and current demand, which was reflected in a significant expansion of the workforce, growth in purchases and production, with a simultaneous more intensive depletion of stocks of finished products. Delivery terms from suppliers, for the first time in almost five and a half years, left the zone of pessimism. High inflationary pressure persists, despite some weakening compared to February: the growth rate of purchase prices remains at the second highest level for the last 17 months, and for the sale prices – for the last 6 months. The market participants' forecasts for the next 12 months showed another, albeit restrained, growth, indicating the prevalence of optimistic expectations in the sector,” he added.