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April PMIs Rise on Stockpiling as War Drives Costs Higher

Survey details point to temporary gains from inventory builds rather than a broad demand rebound.

A worker places bottles of American whiskey into a shopping cart to fill an order for a restaurant, at a Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) store in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada February 2, 2025.  REUTERS/Carlos Osorio
A worker at a factory in Ansan, South Korea, April 13, 2026. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo
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
Employees work on the production floor of the General Stamping & Metalworks building in South Bend, Indiana, U.S., March 23, 2026. REUTERS/Jim Vondruska/File Photo

Overview

  • Purchasing Managers’ Indexes, where 50 marks no change, showed eurozone manufacturing at 52.2 in April, and Monday’s surveys tie the lift to bulk buying and longer delivery times with input costs at multi‑year highs and optimism at a 17‑month low.
  • Germany’s factory PMI printed 51.4 as firms front‑loaded orders to dodge shortages, business expectations turned negative for the first time since October 2024, and supply delays were the worst since 2022 with sharply higher selling prices.
  • India’s PMI rose to 54.7 as output and new orders grew at one of the slowest rates in nearly four years, cost burdens hit their highest since August 2022, and exporters reported the strongest gains in seven months.
  • Spain returned to growth at 51.7 as clients built stocks and pushed input costs to their fastest rise since June 2022, and South Africa’s reading climbed to 52.6 on pre‑emptive buying with a steep jump in purchase prices.
  • The global picture stayed uneven as Russia contracted for an 11th month at 48.1 and U.S. services growth cooled on Tuesday with the ISM prices‑paid index stuck at late‑2022 highs, raising inflation and policy risks if stockpiling fades.