PH manufacturing contracted in March —PSA

The Philippine manufacturing industry posted a contraction in March due to the annual decline in the production of food products during the month, data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Wednesday showed.

The PSA reported that the volume of production index (VoPI) contracted by 0.8% in March, which was driven mainly by the drop in three industry divisions — manufacture of food down by 8.1%; computers and electronic products by 5.3%; and coke and refined petroleum products by 10.2%.

The biggest drops were seen in the manufacture of wood, bamboo, cane, and rattan articles by 24.2%; electrical equipment by 18.2%; tobacco products by 17.1%; textiles by 16.8%; other non-metallic mineral products by 16.0%; printing and production of recorded media by 14.1%; and manufacture of transport equipment by 12.1%.

Declines were also seen in the manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products by 9.2%, basic metals by 8.2%, food products by 8.1%, and paper and paper products by 3.8%.

Meanwhile, the value of production index (VaPI) declined by 7.2%, which the PSA attributed mainly to the annual decrease in the manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats at 3.2%.

Other factors that contributed to the decline were the slower annual increases in the processing and preserving of fruits and vegetables at 13.7% versus the 0.9% decline the previous month.

The average capacity utilization rate for the month was reported at 75.3%, higher than the 75.1% the previous month, and the 73.6% recorded the same month last year.

All industry divisions saw capacity utilization rates of at least 60% during the month, with the highest seen in the manufacture of machinery and equipment at 83.9%, other non-metallic mineral products at 80.9%, and the manufacture of rubber and plastic products at 80.5%.

There were 28.5% of establishments that operated at full capacity, while 41.4% operated at 70% to 80% capacity, and 30.1% operated below 70% capacity. —VAL, GMA Integrated News