Procurement Professional is the official publication of CIPS Australasia

South African purchasing activity contracts in December

20 Jan 2012

Source: Supply Management

Purchasing activity in South Africa contracted in December 2011, bringing three months of consecutive growth to an end.

The seasonally adjusted Kagiso Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell by 2.2 index points to 49.4 (a figure of 50 indicates no change in activity) in the month. Both of the key sub-components, which are combined to make the overall figure, dropped with new sales orders dropping by 2.9 points and business activity dropping by 2.6 points on the previous month’s figures.

Andre Coetzee, managing director of CIPS Southern Africa, said activity in December is generally slower because of the festive season.

“Traditionally, South Africa shuts down in December, so that is probably one of the reasons,” Coetzee said.

“However, if you look at the Eurozone PMI and the Chinese PMI, they are also still below 50, so I think the main
contributor to the improvement in the global survey is what’s happening in the US. So in terms of what’s happening internationally we’re not too out of tune, especially looking at the UK and Eurozone,” he said.

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