60.4 for the month of July. Although it was a decline from the month of June, when this figure was at 63.9, however, the score last month signalled high growth, surpassing the 57.1 reading projected by economists. Experts note that any score above 50 could be considered to indicate growth, particularly amid soaring costs. 72 per cent of manufacturers from Britain have already reported a rise in their costs of material from chemicals and commodities to metals and food stuff, which has forced them to start charging more for the products they are making.
“Supply gridlock resulted in a moderate deceleration in the rates of expansion of production, new orders and job creation,” Duncan Brock, group director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, said. “A mismatch in global recovery rates following the pandemic meant some businesses abandoned their usual suppliers to seek new sources and avoid elevated lead times and the shortages gripping the sector.”
He further noted that with the disruption brought about by the pandemic being a worldwide problem, limited success is expected to be achieved in the complete remodelling of supply chains. Sharing similar views, the director at IHS Markit Rob Dobson said: “Amid growing indications that many supply chain disruptions and raw material shortages are unlikely to be fully resolved until 2022, the outlook remains one of constrained growth combined with high inflation for the foreseeable future.”
