Weak demand conditions, price pressures, the shortage of raw materials and the lack of labor led to the slowest increase in production and new orders in the last seven months, according to the PMI Purchasing Management Index of the Colombian industrial sector of Davivienda.
Despite this, the entity said, companies were optimistic about the future outlook, which favored job creation and increased purchases of inputs.
The most recent data also signaled a pick-up in input cost inflation and output prices, both of which had moderated in December. Thus, the Davivienda PMI Index reached 52.6 points in January and marked a new improvement in the sector. But, that last reading, which fell from 53.1 points in December, reached the lowest level of the last seven months.
New orders, the most heavily weighted sub-component of the main PMI figure, rose again in January, albeit at the slowest pace in the current seven-month expansion sequence.
According to survey participants, intensifying price pressure and weak demand for certain products limited growth.
Similarly, output advanced at the weakest pace in the current sequence of expansion that began in July.
In fact, the rally was minimal overall. Respondents indicated that the unavailability of raw materials, labor shortages and weak sales weighed on production.
Given news of raw material shortages, shipping problems and currency weakness, input prices rose again at the start of 2022.
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