BNZ – BusinessNZ
Performance of
Manufacturing
Index

Solid September – PMI

13 Oct, 2017
57.5
September
-0.4

Monthly Change

expanding
slower rate

Activity in New Zealand’s manufacturing sector during September was largely unchanged from the previous month, according to the BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI).

The seasonally adjusted PMI for September was 57.5 (a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining).  This was 0.4 points lower than August, but continued to display very healthy levels of expansion.  Overall, the sector has remained in expansion in all months since October 2012.

BusinessNZ’s executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard said despite some uncertainty in the market, the sector has continued on with business as usual.

“It was encouraging to see the proportion of positive comments increase further to 69.5%, compared with 65% in August.  In terms of specific comments, a clear proportion of negative comments continued to mention general uncertainty around the election.  Positive comments were varied, but a number mentioned increased orders and sales both domestically and offshore”.

BNZ Senior Economist, Craig Ebert, said that “the manufacturing industry would seem to be forging ahead quite nicely. This was definitely the message in the PMI’s production index for September, while the tone from its new orders index remained relatively upbeat too”.

Catherine Beard

Catherine Beard

Director, Advocacy BusinessNZ

BNZ - BusinessNZ PMI

Time Series Data

View seasonally adjusted and unadjusted time series data for the BNZ - BusinessNZ PMI

Manufacturing Snapshot

The PMI

September’s Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) proved to be about as strong as it was in August. Index wise, it was 57.5 versus 57.9, seasonally adjusted.
Read more

Activity/Sales

Even so, the manufacturing industry would seem to be forging ahead quite nicely. This was definitely the message in the PMI’s production index for September, with its seasonally adjusted result of 59.6.
Read more

Employment

Not every aspect of September’s PMI was expansive, however. In fact, its employment index fizzled out to 50.7, having been running nicely about the 56.0 mark in July and August.
Read more

Capacity

The other reason we can imagine manufacturers are still out there hunting for staff is the fact that they are reporting increased difficulty in finding them. This is particularly the case for skilled staff (as it is for the economy at large).
Read more

Craig Ebert

Craig Ebert

Senior Economist, BNZ

Sponsor Statement

BNZ is delighted to be associated with the Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) and BusinessNZ.

This association brings together the significant experience of leading business advocacy body BusinessNZ, and business finance specialist BNZ.

We look forward to continuing our association with BusinessNZ and associated regional organisations, and to playing our part in the ongoing development of the New Zealand manufacturing sector.

PMI Time Series Table

The results are seasonally adjusted.

National Indicies Sep
2016
May
2017
Jun
2017
Jul
2017
Aug
2017
Sep
2017
BNZ – BusinessNZ PMI 57.2 58.1 56.0 55.6 57.9 57.5
Production 60.6 59.4 57.7 56.7 60.4 59.6
Employment 50.9 55.4 49.0 56.3 56.5 50.7
New Orders 59.3 60.3 58.2 55.8 59.0 60.4
Finished Stocks 54.7 55.0 53.9 55.9 52.9 55.4
Deliveries 56.7 58.1 56.9 56.5 56.1 58.3

BNZ – BusinessNZ PMI Time Series

September 2020 – September 2024

International Results

J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMITM

02 Oct 2017
53.2

About the PMI

The BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index is a monthly survey of the manufacturing sector providing an early indicator of activity levels.

A PMI reading above 50 points indicates manufacturing activity is expanding; below 50 indicates it is contracting.

The main PMI and sub-index results are seasonally adjusted.

Technical Contact

Stephen Summers
Economist, BusinessNZ

[email protected]

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Our Contributors

The BNZ – BusinessNZ PMI contains data obtained through BusinessNZ’s regional organisations