LONDON, June 3 (Xinhua) -- British manufacturing sector plummeted in May, hitting a 34-month low, according to a survey released Monday by IHS Markit/CIPS, a London-based global information provider.
The Markit/CIPS Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for May dropped to 49.4, down sharply from 53.1 in April, below the neutral 50.0 benchmark for the first time since July 2016.
Meanwhile, export orders went down at the quickest pace in over four and a half years due to Brexit uncertainty.
Rob Dobson, director at IHS Markit, said: "The UK manufacturing sector was buffeted by ongoing Brexit uncertainty again in May. The headline PMI posted 49.4, moving back into contraction territory for the first time since July 2016, the month directly following the EU referendum result."
Duncan Brock, group director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, said: "Concern for manufacturers has deepened this month as the sector's performance shrank in May and tumbled into contraction."
"Supply chain managers voiced their deep anxieties over Brexit's continuing impacts as some supply chains were re-directed away from the UK resulting in a drop in total new orders for the first time since October," Brock said.
"A slowdown in the global economy and trade wars hotting up could tip the scales even further next month and increase the likelihood that the UK manufacturing sector will remain in contraction territory," Brock added.