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The Philippine manufacturing sector grew in October but a slower clip
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The value of production index rose by 1.3%, and volume of production index increased by 1.7% in October
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Average capacity utilization rate dropped to 74.3% from the previous month’s 74.4%
The Philippine manufacturing sector grew in October 2023 but at a slower clip, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The value of production index (VaPI) for manufacturing increased at an annual rate of 1.3% in October, according to PSA’s latest Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI). This is slower compared with the 9.6% increment in September and double-digit growth of 14.5% in October 2022.
Similarly, the volume of production index (VoPI) rose by 1.7% in October, a deceleration from the 9.9% increase in September and the 6.7% in October 2022.
PSA said the slower increment in VaPI in October was primarily brought about by the 26.3% annual drop in the manufacture of beverages industry division, which contributed 46.5% to the downtrend of VaPI for the period.
Out of the 22 industry divisions, the manufacture of beverages ranked as the fourth industry division with the highest weight in VaPI computation.
Other contributors to the slower VaPI included a deceleration in the annual increase of the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products by 36.2% and the manufacture of computer, electronic, and optical products, which experienced an annual drop of 1.3%.
Among the 22 industry divisions, 13 exhibited annual reductions in their indices during the period, while six industry divisions posted annual increases.
The slower annual growth of the VoPI in October was also primarily caused by annual decreases in the top three industry divisions the manufacture of beverages (33.9% annual decline), manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (46.8% annual increase), and manufacture of computer, electronic, and optical products (1.9% annual drop).
Thirteen out of the remaining 19 industry divisions exhibited annual decelerations in their VoPI indices, while six reported annual increments in VoPI in October.
The Value of Net Sales Index, meanwhile, recorded a faster annual decrease of 3.4% while the Volume of Net Sales Index registered a year-on-year decrease of 3.1% in October.
Based on the latest MISSI’s responding establishments, the average capacity utilization rate for the manufacturing sector in October was reported at 74.3% from 74.4% in the previous month.
All industry divisions reported capacity utilization rates of more than 50% during the month. The top three industry divisions in terms of reported capacity utilization rate were machinery and equipment except electrical (83.3%), rubber and plastic products (81.2%), and tobacco products (80.5%).
