- Prior 55.8
Much like the rest of the euro area, Italian manufacturing slowed further in April with output growth weakening to a 22-month low as firms struggled with shortages of inputs, long delivery times, and slower demand growth. S&P Global notes that:
"Supply issues and material shortages continued to hamper production growth across Italy during April. Factory production expanded at the weakest pace since June 2020, while order book volumes rose at the weakest pace for 16 months, reflecting a broad stagnation in export demand, as companies battled with input shortages and cooling demand growth.
"Supply issues were again accompanied by surging costs at the start of the second quarter of the year, as scarcity of materials led to further price hikes at suppliers, according to survey respondents. The rate of cost inflation hit a four-month high and was amongst the steepest on record, with higher energy and transport fees also cited as drivers of inflation . In response, manufacturers raised their charges at the quickest rate on record.
"Overall, the sector is just about weathering the storm of input shortages and rising costs, but with demand growth cooling, the challenges are likely to become more severe unless shortages can be alleviated. These issues, combined with the war in Ukraine all dampened business confidence in April, with sentiment towards output over the next year barely improving from the two-year low recorded in March."