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An index measuring South African factory sentiment jumped by a record in August as conditions normalised after deadly riots, looting and arson disrupted supply chains, industrial output and demand for manufactured goods.
Absa Group Ltd’s purchasing managers’ index, compiled by the Bureau for Economic Research, rose to 57,9 from 43,5 in July, the Johannesburg-based lender said Wednesday in an emailed statement. The median of three economists’ estimates in a Bloomberg survey was 48. The monthly advance was the biggest since record keeping began almost 22 years ago. The index is back above 50, the level that signals expansion in an industry hard-hit by the worst civil unrest in South Africa since the end of White-minority rule in 1994.
While a recovery in the index was “always on the cards” as it tracks month-on-month movements in business conditions, the third-quarter average will be lower than that of the previous three-month period due to the severity of the unrest-induced shock, the lender said. — Bloomberg
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