Kazakhstan’s manufacturing sector in July again expanded "as demand improvements continued to fuel growth of new orders and subsequently output", according to the monthly S&P Global Kazakhstan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI).

The PMI was recorded at 51.7, above the 50.0 no-change mark, but down from June’s 52.3.

Andrew Harker, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: "The Kazakhstan manufacturing sector started the second half of the year as it ended the first, seeing further increases in new orders, output and employment. A renewed accumulation in backlogs of work shows the sector working at capacity, and firms will be looking to boost output further in the months ahead, despite the headwinds of stronger inflation and supply-chain delays." 

S&P also noted in its accompanying statement issued with the PMI data that July saw “a further waning of business confidence, which hit a seven-month low”.

“Higher costs for raw materials and currency weakness led to an intensification of inflationary pressures, although both input costs and output prices increased at softer rates than the respective series averages,” the statement said.

“New orders in the manufacturing sector increased for the sixth month running in July, with survey respondents highlighting improving customer demand. Some firms also received orders from the government during the month. The modest expansion in new business was broadly in line with that seen in June,” it added.