BNZ – BusinessNZ
Performance of
Manufacturing
Index

In gear – PMI

12 May, 2017
56.8
April
-1.2

Monthly Change

expanding
slower rate

While New Zealand’s manufacturing sector saw expansion in activity soften slightly in April, the sector remains in healthy territory, according to the BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI).
 
The seasonally adjusted PMI for April was 56.8 (a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining).  This was 1.2 points lower than March, but still the second highest value since September 2016.  Overall, the sector has remained in expansion in all months since October 2012.

BusinessNZ’s executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard said that the fundamentals of expansion in the sector remain on track.
 
“The April value for new orders (62.4) was only slightly down from the March value, with the combined result of the two months the highest for new order expansion since 2004.  While production (56.9) dipped in terms of expansion, the remaining indices remained either stable or increased slightly from March”.
 
“Mirroring the overall result, the proportion of positive comments also dipped somewhat from 67.2% in March to 64.7% in April.

BNZ Senior Economist, Craig Ebert, said “there weren’t any significant jags in the main component detail of the PMI for April, leaving them all looking good. Overall, April’s PMI was another deserving of a big tick”.

Catherine Beard

Catherine Beard

Director, Advocacy BusinessNZ

BNZ - BusinessNZ PMI

Time Series Data

View seasonally adjusted and unadjusted time series data for the BNZ - BusinessNZ PMI

Manufacturing Snapshot

The PMI

New Zealand’s Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) remained strong in April. It chimed in with a seasonally adjusted 56.8, from 58.0 in March – making the low point back in January, of 53.2, seem but a distant concern.
Read more  

Employment

The other component detail that was encouraging was regards staffing. April’s PMI index on employment was 53.0. This was about as robust as it was in March (53.5) and so still securely above its long-term average, of 50.5.
Read more  

Construction

To be sure, the indicators around construction remain generally upbeat. However, the technical picture around its activity for the March quarter has a few clouds about it.
Read more  

Global

The Reserve Bank was right yesterday, in stating that “Global economic growth has increased and become more broad-based over recent months.” The JP Morgan IHS Markit Global Manufacturing PMI supported this.
Read more

Craig Ebert

Craig Ebert

Senior Economist, BNZ

Sponsor Statement

BNZ is delighted to be associated with the Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) and BusinessNZ.

This association brings together the significant experience of leading business advocacy body BusinessNZ, and business finance specialist BNZ.

We look forward to continuing our association with BusinessNZ and associated regional organisations, and to playing our part in the ongoing development of the New Zealand manufacturing sector.

PMI Time Series Table

The results are seasonally adjusted.

National Indicies Apr
2016
Dec
2016
Jan
2017
Feb
2017
Mar
2017
Apr
2017
BNZ – BusinessNZ PMI 56.7 54.5 53.2 55.7 58.0 56.8
Production 58.8 57.6 49.1 57.7 60.0 56.9
Employment 50.6 51.7 52.1 51.5 53.5 53.0
New Orders 60.8 52.9 53.8 59.0 63.2 62.4
Finished Stocks 52.7 52.1 51.0 55.6 52.8 53.8
Deliveries 57.1 54.6 53.3 54.3 54.0 54.6

BNZ – BusinessNZ PMI Time Series

April 2020 – April 2024

International Results

J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMITM

02 May 2017
52.8

About the PMI

The BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index is a monthly survey of the manufacturing sector providing an early indicator of activity levels.

A PMI reading above 50 points indicates manufacturing activity is expanding; below 50 indicates it is contracting.

The main PMI and sub-index results are seasonally adjusted.

Technical Contact

Stephen Summers
Economist, BusinessNZ

[email protected]

PMI Releases

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Activity in New Zealand’s manufacturing sector continued to show improvement in February, but still remained in contraction, according to the latest BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI). The seasonally adjusted PMI for February was 49.3 (a PMI...

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Activity in New Zealand’s manufacturing sector improved in January, but still remained in contraction, according to the latest BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI). The seasonally adjusted PMI for January was 47.3 (a PMI reading above 50.0...

Tough year

Activity in New Zealand’s manufacturing sector ended in further contraction, according to the latest BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI). The seasonally adjusted PMI for December was 43.1 (a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is...

Little Christmas cheer

Activity in New Zealand’s manufacturing sector improved during November, but still remained in contraction, according to the latest BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI). The seasonally adjusted PMI for November was 46.7 (a PMI reading above 50.0...

Downward spiral

Activity in New Zealand’s manufacturing sector dropped further during October, according to the latest BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI). The seasonally adjusted PMI for October was 42.5 (a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is...

Our Contributors

The BNZ – BusinessNZ PMI contains data obtained through BusinessNZ’s regional organisations