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Philippines: Factory output picks up in October

  • Dec 08, 2022

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine manufacturing output picked up in October from the previous month with 14 industry divisions registering increases, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Preliminary results of the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries released by the PSA yesterday showed manufacturing output, as measured by the Volume of Production Index (VoPI), registered an annual growth of 5.1 percent in October this year, higher than the 4.1 percent recorded in August.

Compared to the 27 percent growth in October last year, however, this year’s expansion was slower.

According to the PSA, 14 industry divisions posted positive annual growth in October, led by the manufacture of machinery and equipment except electrical, which rose by 81.8 percent.

Other industry divisions with annual increments in October were beverages; transport equipment; chemical and chemical products; fabricated metal products except machinery and equipment; machinery and equipment except electrical; computer, electronic and optical products; coke and refined petroleum products; other manufacturing and repair and installation of machinery and equipment; wood, bamboo, cane, rattan articles and related products; paper and paper products; rubber and plastic products; leather and related products, including footwear; textiles; basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations.

Those that registered declines were electrical equipment, basic metals, food products, printing and reproduction of recorded media, furniture, wearing apparel, other non-metallic mineral products, and tobacco products.

“The modest, single-digit growth in the manufacturing volume production continued to pick up as the economy further reopened toward greater normalcy, with no large lockdowns so far this year and no lockdowns going forward as a priority of the administration,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said.

The Value of Production Index posted a 12.7 percent growth in October this year, faster than the 12 percent reported in September, but slower than the 27.8 percent growth in October last year.

Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2022/12/08/2229252/factory-output-picks-october