Fabricated and primary metals manufacturing markets beat August forecasts as order books and production in both industries strengthened on better demand.
Both industries are part of the manufacturing index (PMI) released by the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) on Tuesday. The overall manufacturing PMI increased by 1.8 percentage points to 56pc in August from 54.2pc in the prior month reflecting growth in the manufacturing sector for the month and overall economic growth for the fourth consecutive month.
Increased production and stronger order books across 15 industries included in the index grew in August, with the indices for new orders growing by 6.1 percentage points to 67.6pc in August from the prior month with new export orders inclining at a fast pace. The production index also grew by 1.2 percentage points from July to 63.3pc.
Supply, however, remains an issue with the customer inventories index growing at a slower pace and registering its lowest figures since 2010, according to ISM data. The inventories index fell by 2.6 percentage points to 44.6pc in August. However, the suppliers deliveries index climbed by 2.4 percentage points to 58.2pc in August compared with July 2020.
In terms of pricing, metals such as aluminum and copper as well as propylene steel, stainless steel and steel scrap, all rose in August. On the other hand commodities like hot rolled steel saw prices dipping during the same period.