Commenting on June’s PMI data, Seamus Nevin, Chief Economist at Make UK, the manufacturers’ organisation, said:
“The extent to which stockpiling was artificially boosting output earlier in the year is now clear with the PMI plunging into negative territory for the first time since the Referendum. Manufacturers are reporting export demand is weakening as customers look to buy goods from other countries which they once bought from the UK. This is not only the case with European customers but also from countries in Asia with which UK manufacturers trade under the terms of EU free trade deals.
“The weakness in manufacturing output in the UK is also clearly linked to what is happening in our main trading market, the EU. Eurozone PMI remained in negative territory for the fourth consecutive month with both Germany and Italy struggling as the global economic slowdown gathers pace.
“This is not a good time for our economy to be preparing to go it alone. Once again the data is showing a consistently downward trend and, in this context, continued political uncertainty at home can only make an already difficult situation worse.”