The IHS Markit Indonesia Manufacturing PMI plunged to 27.5 in April 2020 from 45.3 in March. This was the steepest contraction on record, as stricter measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic led to factory closures. Output shrank the most since the survey began nine years ago, new orders collapsed, and export sales dropped severely. Also, employment fell at the steepest rate on record, while firms cut back sharply on their purchasing activity and inventories of inputs.
Survey data showed the most severe lengthening of delivery times since the series began. On the price front, input costs rose solidly as a result of the weaker rupiah and supply shortages. Stocks of finished goods, meanwhile, fell for a second straight month. At the same time, greater cost burdens pushed firms to raise prices charged for the first time in eight months, though only fractionally. Looking ahead, sentiment, continued to track below the long-term average.
