PARIS, April 1 (Reuters) - French manufacturing activity showed little sign of expansion in March, a monthly business survey showed on Wednesday, as the impact of the U.S-Israeli-led war on Iran weighed on operations.
S&P Global's final March PMI figure for the French manufacturing sector fell to 50.0 points from 50.1 in February. Any figure above 50.0 shows an expansion in activity, while below that shows a contraction.
The final March manufacturing PMI was also slightly weaker than a flash March manufacturing PMI reading
of 50.2 points.
S&P Global said the war in the Middle East had led to higher input costs, longer delivery times and clients postponing or cancelling orders.
"The March PMI revealed an immediate impact from the war in the Middle East. The survey data, collected between March 12-24, imply a rapid supply-side squeeze from the conflict as delivery times lengthened substantially and input costs soared," said Joe Hayes, principal economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
"The uncertainty from the war in the Middle East has also led clients to postpone or cancel orders, leading sales volumes to contract more sharply and production levels to decline for the first time in the year-to-date. Clearly, the longer this war is drawn out for, the greater are the chances of France's manufacturing sector slipping into stagflation," added Hayes.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
