SINGAPORE, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management (SIPMM) announced on Monday that the country's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), an early indicator of manufacturing activity, declined by 0.4 points from 50.3 for April to 49.9 for May, the Straits Times reported.
It is the first time for Singapore's PMI to fall below 50 since August 2016, indicating Singapore's manufacturing activities contracted in the month. A PMI reading of 50 and above indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 shows a general decline.
Meanwhile, the PMI of Singapore's electronics industry dropped from 49.5 to 49.4, a contraction for the seventh straight month.
Singapore's manufacturing PMI declined in May mainly due to slower growth recorded in new orders, new exports, factory output, inventory and the employment level, as well as to the continued contraction of order backlog index, said the SIPMM.
Meanwhile, the institute attributes the lower electronics PMI to weaker readings in new orders, new exports and the employment level in May.
Looking forward, CMC market analyst Margaret Yang was quoted by the Straits Times as saying that Singapore's PMI was in line with a broad slowdown in manufacturing activities across the globe as cyclical slowdown deepens on the rise of detrimental trade tariffs, with which, higher import and input prices are "likely to inhibit profit margins, and higher prices will eventually be transferred to end users".