CHINA'S MANUFACTURING SECTOR DECELERATES

empty idle chinese steel factory manufacturing
empty idle chinese steel factory manufacturing

REUTERS/David Gray

China's National Bureau of Statistics will release its June manufacturing PMI report. The headline number crossed Bloomberg at 8:59 p.m. ET.

The headline number fell to 50.1 from 50.8 in May.

This was right in line with expectations.

Any reading below 50 signals contraction, so this deteriorating number reflects just marginal expansion.

China is the world's second largest economy and one of the remaining engines of global growth.

Here is a breakdown of the last two month's PMI reports:

June 2013

May 2013

PMI

50.1

50.8

Output

52.0

53.3

New orders

50.4

51.8

New export orders

na

49.4

Backlog of work

na

44.9

Inventories of finished goods

na

48.6

Purchases quantity

na

51.5

Imports

na

50.3

Input prices

44.6

45.1

Inventories of raw materials

47.4

47.6

Employment

48.7

48.8

Supplier delivery times

Business Activity Expectation

50.3

54.1

50.8

56.3

Earlier today, we learned that South Korean exports unexpectedly contracted in June. Korea is facing its own challenges, especially as its currency strengthens substantially against the Japanese yen. Still, its exports are hugely exposed to mainland Asia, and is therefore sensitive to demand out of China.

All of this comes as interest rates rise in China, signaling financial stress. For the most part, China and its central bank has been standing by quietly.



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