(Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Estelle Shirbon)
JOHANNESBURG, May 2 (Reuters) - South African
manufacturing activity contracted again in April but less than
in February and March, helped by companies building up
inventories, a survey showed on Tuesday.
The seasonally-adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers' Index
(PMI) rose to 49.8 points in April from 48.1 in March, staying
below the 50 point mark that separates expansion from
contraction for the third consecutive month.
"The underlying survey results suggest that the sector
experienced another tough month at the start of the second
quarter," Absa said in a statement, adding that power cuts
continued to hurt output and demand was still under pressure.
Struggling state utility Eskom has implemented electricity
cuts on almost every day this year, after a record number of
days with outages last year.
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