Despite declining by 3.3 index points in December, the seasonally adjusted Kagiso Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) ended the year marginally above the neutral 50-point mark, at 50.2. During the second and third quarters of 2014, the PMI languished below 50, but the average reading for the fourth quarter came in at 51.2 index points compared with an average of 48.2 for the first nine months of the year. Abdul Davids said that the December index confirmed earlier expectations that the final quarter of the year would likely be the best quarter of 2014 for actual quarter-on-quarter manufacturing production growth. view article