KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 (NNN-Bernama) — The ASEAN manufacturing sector recorded notable slowdowns in demand indicators in March, and sharp upswings in input costs and output charges, marking the sector’s weakest performance in six months, said S&P Global.
In a statement today, it said output growth and new orders were solid and on par, but considerably softer than the sharp expansions recorded in February.
“This led to slower and only marginal upticks in both purchasing and employment.
“At the same time, price pressures surged in March, with the survey’s price gauges moving back above their long-run averages,” it said.
The S&P Global ASEAN Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 51.8 in March.
Although it signalled a moderate improvement in ASEAN’s manufacturing, extending the current expansion to nine months, the figure was the lowest since September 2025, highlighting a notable loss of growth momentum since February, it said.
There were solid increases in new orders and output in March, continuing the expansion seen since the middle of 2025. But the rise in new orders was the weakest since last August, and production growth was the slowest in eight months. A decline in new export orders weighed on total sales.
“In turn, firms adjusted their buying and hiring activity in March. Both rose marginally,” it said.
Meanwhile, firms reduced their stocks of post-production items, the first month of destocking since last November, it said.
S&P Global Market Intelligence economist Maryam Baluch also said the impact from the West Asia conflict was visible across ASEAN economies, the March PMI data showed.
Impacts were felt on demand, production and even confidence, she said. The most visible development was an intensification of price pressures. The region’s outlook remains uncertain.
“Four of the seven tracked ASEAN economies recorded a slowdown across their manufacturing sector, including Indonesia,” she said.
— NNN-BERNAMA