Philippine manufacturing growth quickened to 5.7% in July — PSA data

Philippine manufacturing growth quickened in July after the slowdown reported a month earlier, preliminary results of the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI) released on Thursday showed.

Data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the volume of production index (VoPI) grew by 5.7%, faster than the 3.4% in June, and the 3.6% in the same month of 2022.

The PSA attributed the higher annual growth to the increases in three industry divisions — manufacture of beverages up 12.6%; coke and refined petroleum products up 36.2%; and food products up 1.2%.

Other divisions that posted faster annual growth rates were the manufacture of transport equipment; electrical equipment; basic metals; wood, bamboo, cane, rattan articles and related products; repair and installation of machinery and equipment; and printing and reproduction of recorded media.

Out of the 22 industry divisions, 11 recorded declines from the same month last year led by the manufacture of furniture down 27.7%, wearing apparel down 24.1%, fabricated metals down 22.7%, machinery and equipment down 17.2%, and computer, electronic, and optical products down 17.0%.

The value of production index (VaPI) grew by 5.7%, faster than the 4.2% in June, but slower than the 12.% recorded in July 2022.

The faster VaPI was also attributed to the higher annual increase in the manufacture of beverages up 22.6%; coke and refined petroleum products up 26.6%; and food products up 3.1%.

Double-digit was also seen in the manufacture of electrical equipment up 29.2%; transport equipment up 20.7%; wood, bamboo, cane, rattan articles up 17.8%; printing and reproduction of recorded media up 15.2%; and other manufacturing and repair and installation of machinery and equipment up 14.2%.

The average capacity utilization rate for the month was recorded at 73.5%, slightly higher than 73.3% the previous month. Some 27.8% operated at full capacity or 90% to 100%, while 37.3% operated at 70% to 89%. Some 34.9% of the firms operated below 70% capacity. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News