Commenting on the April survey results, Andrew Harker, Economics Director at IHS Markit said:
"The latest wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey impacted manufacturers across a range of sectors in April, with none of the ten monitored categories able to escape some form of slowdown.
"Slowdowns in output and new orders, however, were much less pronounced than seen during the first wave of the pandemic this time last year, and we'll hopefully see a swift bounceback as cases of the virus come back down. In fact, firms seem generally content to see through the easing of output and new orders, continuing to expand employment ahead of better days to come.
"The one sector where a positive new orders performance was recorded was land & sea vehicles. This category, however, remained afflicted by severe supply-chain delays, a picture is also seen across all of the other areas covered."
There was also a near-universal easing of new orders, with only the land & sea vehicles category posting a rise. On a more positive note, most sectors continued to expand workforce numbers.
The most marked scaling back of output was registered in the wood and paper products category as new orders slowedsubstantially. Basic metals posted the least marked easing of production. The expansion in new orders at land & sea vehicles firms was the first in three months.
All other sectors saw new business moderate, with the sharpest slowdown in machinery and metal products.
Exports fared slightly better than total new business, with each of the food products, basic metals and textiles sectors recording an expansion. Despite the difficulties seen in April, there were signs that firms were prepared to look through this weakness in the hope of a return to growth in the months ahead. As a result, the majority of categories continued to record job creation, the only exceptions being a fall in clothing and leather products employment and no change in the food products sector.
The sharpest rises in staffing levels were in the basic metals and machinery and metal products areas. All ten sectors saw suppliers' delivery times lengthen to varying degrees. The most marked disruption to supply chains was seen in machinery and metal products, while lead times lengthened only modestly at food producers.
This relatively positive supply picture meant that food producers posted the weakest increases in both input costs and
output prices during April. Inflationary pressures remained marked, nonetheless.
At the other end of the scale, basic metals registered the sharpest rise in input costs, while wood and paper products signalled the steepest charge inflation.
The drop in workloads seen across most sectors meant that manufacturers scaled back their purchasing activity. The textiles category was the only one to register a rise in buying. Reduced demand for inputs and supply-chain delays meant that stocks of purchases were depleted across the board, with the fastest reduction at electronic & electrical equipment firms. (Graph)