Polish manufacturing ends 2021 with solid growth -PMI

WARSAW, Jan 3 (Reuters) – The Polish manufacturing sector finished 2021 with solid growth, a survey showed on Monday, posting the biggest gains in output and new orders since the summer.

IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for Poland rose to 56.1 in December from 54.4 in November, remaining well above the 50.0 line that separates growth from contraction. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a reading of 54.1.

“Underpinned and buoyed by firmer demand, confidence about the future… improved,” said Paul Smith, economics director at IHS Markit.

“However, challenges and risks remain. The emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 will naturally lead to concerns that economic recoveries will be knocked off course in the short-term, whilst challenges related to supply-side and inflation persist and show little real signs of easing.”

As a result of fears that difficulties in procuring goods and higher prices will persist in the coming months, firms built up their supplies, with the survey showing its sharpest rise in input inventories to date.

Price pressures continued, with firms reporting that many raw material inputs had again risen in cost. However, confidence about the future was high and firms hired workers in the expectation that positive trends will continue.

(Reporting by Alan Charlish; Editing by Hugh Lawson)