China Manufacturing Stalls in May as Middle East Energy Costs Bite
🏭 BEIJING — China's factory floor is where Gulf energy costs land hardest. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Two months of expansion reversed by energy-driven cost pressure signals the conflict's economic transmission belt is working. China imports ~11M bpd — much of it Gulf crude now rerouted or priced with war premium. Flat PMI means margin compression, not just sentiment. Beijing's tolerance for prolonged Hormuz disruption has a factory-floor floor — and May's data suggests it's being tested.
