Russian manufacturing hits 18-year high – PMI

Russia’s manufacturing sector saw its fastest expansion in nearly 18 years in March, according to a business survey released on Monday cited by Reuters.

The S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for Russian manufacturing rose to 55.7 in March from 54.7 in February, marking its highest reading since August 2006.

The sector’s revival has been largely driven by domestic demand, particularly as Moscow has heavily invested in manufacturing, notably in the defence sector, to boost military production. This investment led to sharper than expected growth in industrial production in February.

For the first time since October, new export orders increased, reportedly due to expansion into new export markets and new client acquisitions.

This has also led to a significant increase in employment, with firms hiring at the fastest rate since November 2000.

However, vendor performance declined further in March due to logistics delays and slower rail deliveries.

Despite this, firms registered their highest confidence in output expectations for five years, driven by hopes of increased customer demand and investments in new product lines and machinery to improve efficiency.