New Zealand’s manufacturing sector continued its expansionary path for October, according to the latest BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI).

The seasonally adjusted PMI for October was 53.3 (a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining). Although this was 1.7 points lower than September, the level of expansion was still healthy. The sector has now been in continued expansion since October 2012.

BusinessNZ’s executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard said that despite the slower rate of expansion in October, the proportion of positive comments from manufacturers moved up from September.

“Although the key sub-indices of production (53.1) and new orders (55.9) both experienced lower levels of expansion, they continued to lead the way for October”.

“In addition, the proportion of positive comments for October (61.8%) picked up from September (58.7%), with many of these in relation to increased offshore orders and new customers.

BNZ Senior Economist Doug Steel said “it was interesting to see a decline in inventory this month especially in the context of new orders remaining above-average – it’s a signal for more production ahead.”