The Tengri Partners Kazakhstan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for October has shown a drop off in customer demand, resulting in a renewed decline in both new orders and production.

Anuar Ushbayev, managing partner and chief investment officer at Tengri Partners, said: “After a good run of growth it is concerning to see that come to an abrupt halt in October. Hopefully the drop in demand will prove to be just a blip rather than the start of a sustained downturn.”

"Firms themselves were confident enough to keep raising employment and purchasing activity despite the slowdown, ramping up stocks to an extent previously unseen in almost five years of data collection."

On an optimistic note, employment levels continued to increase, and companies escalated their procurement activities, resulting in a historic surge in input inventories.

At the same time, there were widespread reports of elevated raw material expenses, leading to the most rapid growth in input costs since March. In addition, there was an acceleration in the inflation of output charges.

However, new business saw its first decline in a year, marking a significant shift from the consistent improvements in new work observed throughout much of 2023. A similar trend was observed in production, transitioning from robust growth in September to a decline in October.

The headline PMI score fell to 50.3 in September from 52.8 in September. The survey aggregates data related to new orders, output, employment, suppliers' delivery times and inventories of purchases. Any reading surpassing the 50.0 threshold indicates an overall improvement in the sector's health.