THE country’s manufacturing output slowed 2.4 percent in September, according to the latest data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The PSA said the September Volume of Production Index (VoPI) was the slowest since June 2022 when it posted growth of only 0.2 percent. The VoPI was at 4.4 percent in August and 124.3 percent in September 2021.
The actual performance of the manufacturing industry was worse than what Moody’s Analytics
expected in its Asia Pacific Review. It initially expected industrial production to slow to 2.6 percent in September.
“Out of the 22 industry divisions, 13 reported positive annual growth which was led by manufacture of machinery and equipment except electrical with 90 percent annual growth rate,” the PSA said.
“On the contrary, nine industry divisions posted annual decreases with the manufacture of electrical equipment exhibiting the fastest annual drop of 54.7 percent,” it added.
Other losers were the manufacture of basic metals which contracted 34.2 percent, furniture, 11.5 percent; manufacture of beverages, 6.8 percent; and printing and reproduction of recorded media, 6.5 percent.
Top gainers included the manufacture of wood, bamboo, cane, rattan articles and related products which grew 77.6 percent; chemical and chemical products, 30.1 percent; and fabricated metal products except machinery and equipment, 21.7 percent.
Meanwhile, the Value of Production Index (VaPI) continued to register a two-digit year-on-year increment of 10 percent in September 2022, slower than the August 2022 annual growth of 11.8 percent.
In September 2021, PSA said the VaPI accelerated with an annual growth rate of 124.6 percent.
Contributing to the increase of VaPI were the annual growth rates
exhibited by 15 out of the 22 industry divisions. Among these, manufacturing of machinery and equipment except electrical posted the highest annual growth rate of 86.3 percent in September 2022.
“On the other hand, the remaining seven industry divisions posted decreases in their production with the manufacture of electrical equipment registering the fastest annual decline of 53.5 percent,” PSA, however, said.
Capacity utilization
Meanwhile, based on the responding establishments, the average capacity utilization rate for the manufacturing sector in September 2022 was reported at 71.5 percent, from 71.4 percent in the previous month.
There were 20 out of 22 industry divisions with more than 60 percent average capacity utilization rate, led by manufacture of wearing apparel at 80.9 percent.
This was followed by the average capacity utilization rate recorded by the manufacture of furniture at 80.3 percent, and manufacture of computer, electronic, and optical products at 80 percent.
“The proportion of establishments that operated at full capacity [90 percent to 100 percent] was 22 percent of the total number of responding establishments. Meanwhile, 39.1 percent operated at 70 to 89 percent capacity, while 38.9 percent operated below 70 percent capacity,” PSA said.
The Production Index and Net Sales Index is the new term used instead of the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (Missi). The report continues to monitor the production, net sales, inventories, and capacity utilization of selected manufacturing establishments to provide flash indicators on the performance of the manufacturing sector.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes