China‘s factory activity contracted more than expected in October to shrink for a second month, hurt by persistently high raw material prices and softer domestic demand, pointing to more economic disquiet in the final quarter of 2021.
The official manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) was at 49.2 in October, down from 49.6 in September, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Sunday.
The 50-point mark separates growth from contraction. Analysts had expected it to come in at 49.7.
China’s sprawling manufacturing sector has steadily slowed this year, with output in September growing at its most feeble pace since March 2020 due to environmental curbs, power rationing and higher raw material prices.
In line with the softer headline PMI, a subindex for production slipped to 48.4 in October from 49.5 in September. A subindex for new orders also contracted for a third month, coming in at 48.8.
“About one-third of the surveyed companies listed insufficient demand as their biggest difficulty, indicating inadequate demand had restricted their production,” said Zhang Liqun, an analyst at the China Logistics Information Center.
More worryingly, a subindex for output prices rose to 61.1, the highest since 2016 when the statistics bureau started publishing the indicator, suggesting rising inflationary pressures while broader economic growth slows.
“The production index has dropped to the lowest level since it was published in 2005, excluding the global financial crisis period in 2008/09 and the COVID outbreak in February 2020,” said Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.
“The output price index rose to the highest level since it was published in 2016. These signals confirm that China’s economy is likely already going through stagflation.”
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Factory gate inflation rose to a record last month on soaring commodity prices but weak demand capped consumer inflation, forcing policymakers to walk a tightrope between supporting the economy and further stoking producer prices.
Analysts polled by Reuters expect the People’s Bank of China to refrain from attempts to stimulate the economy by reducing the amount of cash banks must hold in reserve until the first quarter of 2022.
“Production remains weak, indicating the demand problem may be relatively large, and some easing of policy is still needed,” said Zhou Hao, senior economist at Commerzbank.
The official non-manufacturing PMI in October eased slightly to 52.4 from 53.2 in September, when services swung back to expansionary at the end of a COVID-fraught summer.
New clusters of COVID-19 returned in October, especially in the north, which could again disrupt economic activity and deal yet another blow to the services sector because of tough restrictions to contain the disease.
“Due to the impact of the epidemic and weather, consumers were more inclined to spend their holidays at home or travel for short distances,” said Zhao Qinghe, a senior NBS statistician, in an accompanying statement.
While the transport sector including air and railway services expanded, the growth was relatively weak, Zhao said.
China’s official October composite PMI, which includes both manufacturing and services activity, stood at 50.8, down from September’s 51.7.
(Reporting by Ryan Woo and Gabriel Crossley; Editing by William Mallard and Richard Pullin)
HALIFAX – Ottawa is negotiating a $500-million bailout for Nova Scotia’s privately owned electric utility, saying the money will be used to prevent a big spike in electricity rates.
Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson made the announcement today in Halifax, saying Nova Scotia Power Inc. needs the money to cover higher costs resulting from the delayed delivery of electricity from the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric plant in Labrador.
Wilkinson says that without the money, the subsidiary of Emera Inc. would have had to increase rates by 19 per cent over “the short term.”
Nova Scotia Power CEO Peter Gregg says the deal, once approved by the province’s energy regulator, will keep rate increases limited “to be around the rate of inflation,” as costs are spread over a number of years.
The utility helped pay for construction of an underwater transmission link between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, but the Muskrat Falls project has not been consistent in delivering electricity over the past five years.
Those delays forced Nova Scotia Power to spend more on generating its own electricity.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
