Philippine factory output contracts for 7th straight month in September

The Philippine manufacturing output contracted for the seventh consecutive month in September, albeit at a slower pace month-on-month, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.

Preliminary results of the Monthly Integrated Survey of Select Industries (MISSI) recorded the Volume of Production Index (VoPI) at -8.4% in September, slower than the -9.0% in August, but faster than the -6.5% decline the same month last year.

"The major contributor to the slower decline in VoPI for manufacturing sector in September 2020 were the two-digit expansions observed in basic metals and food manufacturing with annual increases of 14.4% and 10.2%, respectively," the PSA said.

Top losers for the month were petroleum products (-98.6%), leather products (-55.2%), tobacco products (-48.2%), printing (-46.0%), and furniture and fixtures (-42.4%).

Likewise, the Value of Production Index (VaPI) reported a -11.9% performance, slower than the -13.3% in the previous month and the -6.5% in September 2019.

"The September 2020 figure was the seventh consecutive month that VaPI had a negative growth and the fifth straight month that it was declining at a slower rate," the PSA said.

The slower downturn was attributed to the increases in the production of basic metals (12.3%), food manufacturing (11.6%), chemical products (5.6%), and miscellaneous manufactures (1.6%).

Similar to the VoPI, top losers in terms of VaPI were petroleum products (-98.7%), leather products (-55.8%), printing (-46.7%), tobacco products (-46.3%), and transport equipment (-43.3%).—AOL, GMA News