BANGKOK, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's manufacturing sector contracted for the seventh straight month in February as new orders declined amid worsening demand conditions and shrinking customer bases, a survey showed on Friday.

The Southeast Asian country's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) was recorded at 45.3 last month, down from 46.7 in January, an extension of contraction and at the sharpest pace since December 2023, according to S&P Global.

A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion in the manufacturing sector, while a reading below 50 reflects contraction.

Due to the slowdown in new work, Thai manufacturers worked through their existing orders, resulting in the steepest depletion of backlogged work in just over a year, the survey showed.

Although manufacturing output continued to expand, a decline in new work coupled with the depletion of backlogged work points to the potential for a downturn ahead, said Jingyi Pan, economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

"Margin pressures were also observed as rising input cost inflation was met with greater challenges in passing through to selling prices in an environment of falling demand," Pan added. Enditem

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