UK July final manufacturing PMI 45.3 vs 45.0 prelim

It’s a mild revision higher to the initial estimate but it still marks a seven-month low for the UK manufacturing PMI. Output and new orders are both seen falling at faster rates as demand conditions falter. HCOB notes that:

“July saw a deepening of the UK’s manufacturing
downturn. Output fell at the quickest pace since January,
as overstocked clients, rising export losses, higher interest
rates and the cost-of-living crisis coalesced to create a
worrying intensification of the slump in demand. Although
manufacturers maintain a generally positive outlook for
the sector, with over half still expecting output to rise
over the coming year, other forward-looking indicators
show the mire that industry is currently facing. Domestic
and export demand are weakening, and backlogs of work
are declining sharply, all of which likely presages further
cutbacks to production, employment and purchasing in
the months ahead.

“The only upside is that prices are falling in this environment
of sharply deteriorating demand, with cost pressures also
helped lower by further repair to supply chains. Supplier
performance improved for the sixth successive month,
while raw material prices fell for the third month in a
row. However, while good news for inflation, lower prices
are largely a symptom of malaise and hence bode ill for
manufacturers’ profits, which may in turn hit investment.”