- In the Eurozone, the April manufacturing PMI was 45.7 versus 45.6 expected and 46.1 previously.
Key findings:
- Eurozone HCOB manufacturing PMI at 45.7 (March: 46.1). Lowest level in 4 months.
- Eurozone HCOB manufacturing PMI output index at 47.3 (March: 47.1). Highest level in 12 months.
- Factory output is falling at the slowest pace in a year and confidence is rising, but the decline in new orders is accelerating
comment:
“What will save the eurozone economy? Although this is a difficult question, one thing is clear: it is not the manufacturing sector. Instead, this sector is prolonging a long-standing recession until April. Production has contracted at a pace similar to It has been the case in the previous months that companies have reduced their purchases at an accelerating rate. Compounding the problem is that there is no sign of a shift in the inventory cycle, but instead we have seen a sustained trend of depletion of inventories of purchased goods and finished goods in April.
“A large body of evidence highlights the stark absence of demand, as evidenced by the rapid decline in new orders, at a speed unparalleled over the past four months and devoid of international support. As a result, backlogs have dwindled further. At the same time, delivery schedules are revealing Express demand from suppliers in April and over the previous few months revealed abundant logistics capacity, indicating a dearth of orders. This overall snapshot portends a delay in any semblance of recovery, likely extending well into the summer.
“Normally a recovery begins with some positive momentum in the capital goods sector. Instead, in a worrying sign, capital goods were hit particularly hard in April, as demand for these goods fell at an accelerating pace in the three largest eurozone countries. Worryingly, In particular Germany, an industrial powerhouse, is struggling with a widespread deflation affecting key sectors including capital goods, intermediate goods and consumer goods.
“The economic pulse in Spain is different from that of the Eurozone. This is evidenced by the sustained growth of the manufacturing sector for the third month in a row, with April showing a marked expansion. This positive momentum stands in stark contrast to the weak results seen in Germany, France and Italy. Thanks to the favorable global landscape There are expectations that this disparity will gradually reduce in the coming months.