Particle.news
Download on the App Store
24 ARTICLES
·
yesterday

Asia Manufacturing Rebounds on Exports as China PMIs Diverge

Survey divergences highlight an uneven China recovery alongside export-driven upturns across Japan, South Korea, Australia.

Image
Workers walk between precision-machining machines for automotive parts inside a factory at Kyowa Industrial Co. in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, Japan April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Issei Kato
An employee works at a ceramics factory where the workers start their shifts before dawn to optimise sunlight and save energy, in Citta di Castello, Italy, August 30, 2022. REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini
Image

Overview

  • China’s official January PMIs showed contraction in manufacturing at 49.3 and non‑manufacturing at 49.4, signalling weak domestic demand and ongoing property-sector strain.
  • The private RatingDog/S&P Global China PMI rose to 50.3 with faster output and a return to export order growth ahead of Lunar New Year, as firms added staff and faced higher input costs and softer optimism.
  • Japan’s PMI climbed to 51.5, the strongest since August 2022, with output and new orders improving, export orders rising for the first time since early 2022, and input and output prices accelerating on a weaker yen.
  • South Korea’s PMI reached 51.2, the highest since August 2024, driven by the biggest export order increase since April 2021 linked to autos and semiconductors, with business confidence at a multi‑year high.
  • Australia’s manufacturing posted a five‑month‑high expansion with stronger new orders and the fastest hiring since early 2023, while supply frictions lifted input costs and prompted renewed price increases.