SHANGHAI, Jun.2 (SMM) -- According to PMI for May recently released by China and other major economies, manufacturing activities slowed to significantly at major economies.
 
According to data from website of China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing June 1st, China’s PMI for May 2011 was 52.0%, down 0.9% MoM. Meanwhile, HSBC China PMI was 51.6, lower than April’s 51.8, and also the lowest level during the past 10 months, a signal that China’s manufacturing sentiment is slowing down. PMI for all months during 2011 continued to fall except for March, also a sign of stable decline of China’s economy growth.

Sub-indexes fell as well, and new orders index, the order backlog index, purchasing price index as well as raw material stocks index were down sharply. Rapid declines in the new orders index were believed as the main reason for a lower PMI in China. Relevant data showed that the new orders index in May was 52.1%, down by 1.7 percentages from a month earlier; while this index in 13 industries, including petroleum processing, coking as well as electric mechanism and equipment manufacture etc., reached over 50%; which new orders index in other 7 industries, including metal products manufacture and special equipment manufacture etc., was lower than 50%. Meanwhile, the HSBC PMI new business index also showed the growth in May was relatively weak, due mainly to soft market demand in both China and foreign countries, reflected in the new export index, a gauge of overseas demand, which fell for the first time over the past three months. Despite stable and rapid domestic demand growth and constantly high investment, the PMI in May continued to fall, an indication of a slowing economic growth in China.

The final manufacturing PMI in the Euro zone fell to 54.6 in May, down from April’s 58.0. The final manufacturing PMI in Germany slipped to 57.7 in May, down from April’s 62.0. The final manufacturing PMI in France dipped to 54.9 in May, down from April’s 57.5. The final manufacturing PMI in Italy slid to 52.8 in May, down from April’s 55.5. The manufacturing PMI in the UK declined to a 20-month low of 52.1 in May, down from April’s 54.4, due mainly to falling production and new orders.

Data from US ISM was also lower than expectation. US Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) for May fell to 53.5 from 60.4 in April, with new orders for May falling to 51.0 from 61.7 in April, and manufacturing output index for May falling to 54.0 from 63.8 in April, according to data from ISM.

May’s PMI indexes announced by major economies were significantly lower than expectation, suggesting sharply slow down of manufacturing activities at major economies and waning momentum for economy recovery.  Significantly slower manufacturing activities exerted certain impact on financial market. Coupled with a lack of optimistic foundation for economy growth, short sentiment prevailed again. In this context, related commodity prices will be dragged down in the near term.

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