Global PMI: August inventory upswing – Standard Chartered

PMI data shows broad-based expansion across sectors; all sub-indices were higher than in July. US inventory growth and input/output price pressures surged on a m/m basis. Global supply-chain pressures were offset by subdued oil prices and spare capacity, Standard Chartered's Research Analyst Ethan Lester reports.

Reported US price pressures accelerate sharply

"The global aggregate PMI continues to hover around the 50 neutral level amid fluid US tariff policy. In the US, finished-goods stockpiling increased at the fastest pace in over a year as reciprocal tariffs implemented in August were broadly lower than 2 April levels. Front-loading may have received an additional boost from the ‘savings clause’ on reciprocal tariffs, which exempts goods leaving for the final leg of seabound transit before 7 August and entering the US for consumption before 5 October. The impending end of de minimis exemptions on 29 August, along with rising expectations of a clampdown on trans-shipment, may have also temporarily boosted US goods imports."

"US input costs also rose at the second-fastest rate in three years (surpassed only by June 2025), and output costs saw the sharpest monthly rise of all 32 economies for which data were available. External supply-chain pressures led to the largest rise in US order backlogs since September 2022, and the greatest lengthening of euro-area input lead times since November 2022. Canada and Mexico continue to face pronounced customs and logistical challenges, raising risks to future output. However, commodity price and supply pressures remained broadly muted globally in August amid declining energy prices and ongoing factory capacity surpluses."