The Turkish manufacturing sector faced a challenging demand environment in May, experiencing further slowdowns in total new orders and exports, according to data for the month provided for the Istanbul Chamber of Industry Türkiye Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI).

The headline PMI posted below the 50.0 no-change mark for the second consecutive month in May. It fell to 48.4 from 49.3 in April. The latest reading signalled a modest slowdown in business conditions, but one that was the most pronounced in 2024 so far, survey publisher S&P Global noted.

Commenting on the PMI outcome, Andrew Harker, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: “Latest data suggest that Turkish manufacturers are facing an increasingly challenging operating environment, with new work seemingly harder to come by.

“One light on the horizon comes in the form of softening inflationary pressures, however. Given the still detrimental impact high prices is having on demand, an easing of these pressures will hopefully help lead to a recovery in the sector over the second half of the year.”

The PMI survey showed firms in May scaled back production and also lowered staffing levels.

However, the improvement in terms of inflation saw both input costs and output prices increasing at much weaker rates.

Purchasing activity and inventories of both inputs and finished goods were all scaled back in May, in each case following increases in April, S&P said.