Vietnam's manufacturing advances in May with record growth of new orders

The Vietnamese manufacturing sector saw strong growth in May thanks to the record growth of output and new orders, according to a HSBC survey released on June 1.

Photo for Illustration (Photo: Thai Thien).

The HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a snapshot of operating conditions in the manufacturing economy, continued to expand for the second month to 54.8 in May from 53.5 in April.

This marked the strongest improvement of the PMI since the series began in April 2011, showing the improvement of business conditions in the past 21 months.

The survey also indicated the growth of job creation for a second consecutive month, allowing firms to increase output. It also reported the increase of input costs for the first time in seven months amid lowered output prices. The increase was attributed to the higher oil and electricity prices and a weakening of the Vietnamese dong against the US dollar.

Manufacturers raised production due to the increase of client demand, bringing in the increase of output for the twentieth month in a row and at the strongest pace in the series history.

According to the survey, manufacturers raise their input buying thanks to the rise in production requirements, leading to the sharp expansion of purchasing activity at the fastest pace in the series history.

Economist Andrew Harker said that 'The Vietnamese manufacturing sector gained further momentum in May and growth rates are now the best we have seen in the four years of data collection so far."

(Source: nhandan.org.vn)