April PMI: China’s Recovery Hits a Wall: The Hormuz Cost Shock

A massive spike in procurement costs and the Hormuz blockade are crushing China’s recovery. Explore why the export engine is stalling ahead of the critical holiday season.

With the official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) jumping to 50.4 and the private RatingDog PMI falling to 50.8 at the same time, a divergence that has characterised the picture in recent months has disappeared in March. However, the fact that both indices are now converging does not signal harmonisation, bu…