Vietnam’s manufacturing activity records 'modest' growth in Nov

The S&P Global Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) reached 50.8 in November, above the 50 no-change mark, indicating a growth last month.

However, the November increase was less than 51.2 in October, indicating a modest strengthening in the health of the sector. Slower rises in output and new orders were recorded, with the latter impacted by export weakness, according to S&P Global.

Some firms raised production in response to higher new orders, but others reported that demand was relatively muted, leading to the slowdown in growth.

Although total new orders increased amid signs of improving demand and the securing of new customers, weakness in international demand undermined overall growth.

While output and new orders continued to rise, albeit at weaker rates, employment decreased for the second month running in November. In some cases, firms lowered staffing levels to help reduce costs.

With workforce numbers down, firms again found it difficult to complete orders on time. As a result, backlogs of work increased for the sixth month running, albeit at the slowest pace since June.

Commenting on the result, Andrew Harker, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said “to some extent, the slowdown in growth reflected weakness in international demand, with exports down to the largest extent since July 2023.”

“Firms were again keen to keep a lid on costs, and this contributed to another reduction in employment, in turn limiting the ability of companies to complete orders on time,” Andrew noted.

Vietnam’s January-October index of industrial production (IIP) grew 8.3% year-on-year, extending the recovery of the sector, backed by a 4% increase from September to October, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said.

The result outpaced the 0.5% recorded in January-October 2023, the GSO highlighted. It was better than 2.6% in 2020 and 3.8% in 2021, two peak years of the Covid-19 pandemic; and lower than 8.9% in 2022, the post-pandemic year.