Pedestrians walk on the street in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on September 30, 2022. (PHILIP FONG / AFP)

TOKYO – Asia's factory output factory output mostly weakened in September as slowing demand in advanced economies added to the pain from persistent cost pressures, surveys showed on Monday, clouding the region's economic recovery prospects.

Manufacturing activity shrank in Malaysia, and grew at a slower pace in September compared with August in Japan and Vietnam, as rising raw material costs and the darkening global outlook weighed on corporate sentiment.

Manufacturing activity shrank in Malaysia, and grew at a slower pace in September compared with August in Japan and Vietnam, as rising raw material costs and the darkening global outlook weighed on corporate sentiment

"While supply disruptions may have run its course, Asia is now suffering from slumping global demand," said Toru Nishihama, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo.

The au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) slumped to 50.8 in September from 51.5 in the prior month, marking the weakest growth rate since January last year.

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New orders shrank at the fastest rate in two years, while output posted its sharpest decline in a year due to weakening demand from trading partners, Japan's PMI survey showed.

"Weakness in Japan's manufacturing sector persisted in September and even turned worse," said Joe Hayes, senior economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, which compiles the survey.

"Weakness in the yen is doing little to bolster export demand either and instead is pushing imported inflation up drastically and drove domestic price pressures up even further," he added.

Vietnam's PMI fell to 52.5 from 52.7 in August, while that of Malaysia slid to 49.1 from 50.3, the surveys showed.

Soaring inflation has forced US and European central banks to embark on interest rate hikes, stoking fears of a sharp downturn in global demand that had underpinned Asian exports.

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