DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland’s manufacturing sector returned to growth in January thanks to fresh impetus in output and new orders, as confidence levels among firms remained close to December’s 15-month high, a survey showed on Tuesday.
The AIB Ireland Manufacturing PMI rose to 51.3 last month from 49.1 in December, crossing the 50.0 mark that separates growth from contraction for just the second time in five months.
While new orders expanded for just the second time in the last 12 months, the uptick was only fractional as overall growth was weighed down by a continuing decline in new export sales, which have now fallen for a year straight.
Input costs rose at the fastest rate in six months due to general price hikes and increased charges for raw materials, although those increases were only partly passed on to consumers.
Almost 50% of firms anticipated increasing production in the next 12 months compared with just 6% that predict a reduction. The survey responses were collected in the second half of January, before U.S. President Donald Trump ordered sweeping tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
