ICI Released February 2025 ICI Türkiye Manufacturing PMI and Türkiye Sector PMI Report

• 03.03.2025
• News

The headline Istanbul Chamber of Industry Türkiye Manufacturing PMI® rose slightly to 48.3 in February from 48.0 in January, but it remained below the 50.0 no-change mark and therefore pointed to a moderation of business conditions midway through the opening quarter of the year. The health of the sector has eased continuously since April 2024. 

According to the Istanbul Chamber of Industry Türkiye Sector PMI report, new orders dropped in 9 out of 10 monitored sectors, with the only exception of food products sector which continues to grow for the last four months. The sharpest declines were recorded in clothing and leather goods and textiles. On the export side, a slightly more positive picture emerged compared to total new orders. New export orders rose in three sectors.

The strongest increase was recorded in wood and paper products.

Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ICI) released the February 2025 results of Türkiye Manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers’ Index) survey, which is recognized as the fastest and reliable indicator of the manufacturing industry’s performance in the economic growth. The headline PMI, where any figure greater than the 50.0 no-change mark indicates overall improvement of the sector, rose slightly to 48.3 in February from 48.0 in January, but it remained below the 50.0 no-change mark and therefore pointed to a moderation of business conditions midway through the opening quarter of the year. The health of the sector has eased continuously since April 2024. 

Subdued demand conditions were reported by survey respondents in February, contributing to further slowdowns in both new orders and output. New business eased for the twentieth consecutive month and at a solid pace, albeit with the rate of moderation easing from January. Weakness was also seen with regards to new export orders, which slowed to the greatest extent since last October. 

The softening of new orders was matched by a moderation in output, the eleventh in as many months. That said, the pace at which output eased was modest and slower than in the previous month. A lack of new orders led manufacturers to scale back their employment and purchasing activity during February. In both cases, rates of moderation were more pronounced than in January. 

Stocks of purchases and finished goods were also reduced. As has now been the case in three consecutive months, the pace of input cost inflation quickened in February. The latest rise in input prices was sharp, and linked by panellists to increased costs for raw materials and staff, as well as the inflationary impact of currency weakness. In turn, output prices also rose at a faster pace, with the rate of inflation at a five-month high. Suppliers' delivery times lengthened marginally again in February, with delays linked to price increases and geopolitical issues by panellist firms.

Commenting on the Istanbul Chamber of Industry Türkiye Manufacturing PMI survey data, Andrew Harker, Economics Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said:

"The Turkish manufacturing sector continued to struggle to gain momentum in the opening part of 2025, with firms seeing further challenges in the securing of new business in February. With this in mind, manufacturers were reluctant to take on staff or invest in buying in new materials. Headwinds around inflation also continued to build, with both input costs and output prices rising more quickly. This could potentially make it more difficult for firms to secure new business in the near-term.

New orders drop in 9 sectors according to sector PMI

According to the Istanbul Chamber of Industry Türkiye Manufacturing PMI report, new orders dropped in 9 out of 10 monitored sectors, with the only exception of food products sector which continued to grow in four of the last five months. The sharpest declines were recorded in clothing and leather goods and textiles. On the export side, a slightly more positive picture emerged compared to total new orders. New export orders rose in three sectors. The strongest increase was recorded in wood and paper products.

Due to the weak course of demand, output growth was limited to only two sectors in February. The base metal industry, where output increased for the first time since May 2023, was in the growth zone along with food products. The most significant slowdown in output was again recorded in the textile sector. 

The number of sectors that increased their staffing numbers slightly improved, rising to three in February from two in January. The strongest employment growth was seen in land and sea vehicles, after two months of declines. Textiles, on the other hand, was the sector with the fastest decline in employment, in line with the ongoing difficulties in general.

Food manufacturers expanded their purchasing activity on the back of increases in new orders and output requirements. However, the improvement in purchasing volume was limited. In non-metallic mineral products sector, input purchases ended their downtrend and remained flat.

Limited demand for inputs led suppliers to shorten their lead times in half of the ten sectors covered by the survey. Input cost inflation remained high and accelerated in six of the ten sectors. The sharpest rise was in wood and paper products, where inflation reached an 18-month peak. The slowest increase in input prices was seen in non-metallic mineral products. The fastest and slowest increases in selling prices were also recorded in these two sectors. Finished goods price inflation also increased in the six sectors monitored in the report.

You can find attached the Istanbul Chamber of Industry Türkiye Manufacturing PMI and Sector PMI February 2025 reports.