Vietnam PMI November 2024 – manufacturing purchasing managers index

Cimigo
Dec 02, 2024

Production increases in November, but at a slower rate

  • New order growth slows amid a drop in exports.
  • Employment falls for the second month running.
  • Further lengthening of suppliers’ delivery times.

Cimigo Vietnam market research has collected the Vietnam PMI – manufacturing purchasing managers index since 2013. S&P Global compiles the Vietnam PMI S&P Global from responses to monthly questionnaires sent to purchasing managers in a panel of around 400 manufacturers.

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Vietnam PMI findings

Vietnam PMI November 2024

The Vietnamese manufacturing sector remained in growth territory during November, but overall business conditions improved to a lesser extent than in October.

Slower rises in output and new orders were recorded, with the latter impacted by export weakness. Meanwhile, employment continued to fall amid cost-cutting efforts, resulting in a continued accumulation of outstanding business. Input costs increased, but relatively modestly, with output prices rising slightly in response.

The S&P Global Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI®) remained above the 50.0 no-change mark in November and signalled a second consecutive monthly improvement in business conditions following the contraction caused by Typhoon Yagi in September.

At 50.8, however, the reading was down from 51.2 in October and pointed to only a modest strengthening in the health of the sector.

In line with the picture for overall business conditions, manufacturing output increased for the second month running, but at a slower pace than in October. Some firms raised production in response to higher new orders, but others reported that demand was relatively muted, leading to a slowdown in growth. Although total new orders increased amid signs of improving demand and the securing of new customers, weakness in international demand undermined overall growth.

In fact, new business from abroad decreased solidly following a slight rise in the previous month, with exports down to the largest extent since July 2023. While output and new orders continued to rise, albeit at weaker rates, employment decreased for the second month running in November. In some cases, firms lowered staffing levels to help reduce costs.

 

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With workforce numbers down, firms again found it difficult to complete orders on time. As a result, backlogs of work increased for the sixth month running, albeit at the slowest pace since June.

Efforts made by firms to limit costs meant that input prices increased at a slightly slower pace in November, and one that was weaker than the average for 2024 so far. Where input prices did rise, panellists linked this to supply shortages and currency weakness.  Similarly, output prices increased only slightly in November, with the rate of inflation broadly in line with that seen in the previous month.

Vietnam PMI Trend November 2024

Manufacturers continued to face lengthening suppliers’ delivery times midway through the final quarter of the year. Lead times were extended for the third month in a row, and to a greater degree than was the case in October. Respondents signalled transportation issues and difficulties for suppliers to source raw materials.

At the same time, firms reduced their purchasing activity for the second time in the past three months, following a slight increase in October. The drop in input buying and issues with the delivery of materials meant that stocks of purchases decreased again, and at a marked pace. Stocks of finished goods were also down as inventories were used to help meet order requirements. The solid depletion was the most marked since July.

Business confidence ticked down for the second month running and was the lowest since January. Manufacturers remained optimistic that output will rise over the coming year, however, with expectations linked to plans for new product launches and business expansions, plus rising new orders.

Approach

The S&P Global Vietnam Manufacturing PMI® is compiled by S&P Global from responses to monthly questionnaires sent to purchasing managers in a panel of around 400 manufacturers. The panel is stratified by detailed sector and company workforce size, based on contributions to GDP.

Survey responses are collected by Cimigo Vietnam in the second half of each month and indicate the direction of change compared to the previous month. A diffusion index is calculated for each survey variable. The index is the sum of the percentage of ‘higher’ responses and half the percentage of ‘unchanged’ responses.

The indices vary between 0 and 100, with a reading above 50 indicating an overall increase compared to the previous month, and below 50 an overall decrease. The indices are then seasonally adjusted.

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