market demands and foreign trade pressure

The service industry survey center of the national bureau of statistics released the China purchasing managers index on February 28, 2019.

The purchasing managers index of manufacturing fell slightly
The manufacturing PMI was 49.2 per cent in February, down from 0.3 percentage points the previous month.The main characteristics of the manufacturing PMI this month: first, production activity for cold-formed hollow sections slowed down, but market demand picked up. Affected by the shutdown and production reduction of some enterprises around the Spring Festival, the production index was 49.5%, 1.4 percentage points lower than last month.On the demand side, however, the new orders index returned to expansion at 50.6 per cent, up 1.0 percentage points from the previous month, as demand recovered.Second, with the acceleration of the “six stability” policy measures, enterprises are expected to improve significantly.The index of expectations for production and operating activity was 56.2 per cent, up 3.7 percentage points from the previous month and rising to a four-month high.Third, the high-tech manufacturing sector continues to take the lead and the industrial structure continues to be optimized. The high-tech manufacturing PMI was 51.4 percent, up from 1.8 percentage points last month. Fourth, some international commodity prices rose and the price index both rebounded.The purchasing and factory price indices for major materials like hot-rolled steel pipe were 51.9 percent and 48.5 percent respectively, up from 5.6 and 4.0 percentage points last month. Fifth, the external environment is complex. The new export order index and import index were 45.2% and 44.8% respectively, both of which remained below the critical point. Under the influence of weakened global growth momentum and intensified trade protectionism, foreign trade was under great pressure.

Business activity index of non-manufacturing continues to expand
In February, the non-manufacturing business activity index was 54.3 percent, down 0.4 percentage points from the previous month. The service sector including steel pipe manufacturers is on the whole running smoothly.The index of business activity in the service sector stood at 53.5 percent, down 0.1 percentage points from the previous month.From the perspective of the industry, the business activity index of railway transportation is in the higher business cycle range. The index of business activity in real estate, residential services and other sectors continued to fall below the critical point, while the total business volume declined.

From the perspective of market demand and expectation, market demand was further expanded and enterprises’ expectations for the development of the industry were improved. Manufacturing production for mild steel tube and non-manufacturing business activity, which make up the output index of composite PMI , were 49.5 per cent and 54.3 per cent, respectively.