Industrial output contracts in June

MANILA, Philippines — Manufacturing contracted in June as lower output were registered in petroleum products, furniture and fixtures, and basic metals, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said yesterday.

Industrial output, as measured by the Volume of Production Index (VoPI), registered a negative 10.5 percent growth in June, reversing the 9.8 percent expansion in the same month last year.

Decreased output was seen in 11 major industry groups, with double-digit contractions in petroleum (69.3 percent), furniture and fixtures (40.5 percent) and basic metals (18.3 percent).

Declines were also recorded in the following commodity groups: electrical machinery, food manufacturing, machinery except electrical, miscellaneous manufactures, footwear and wearing apparel, textiles, leather products, and tobacco products.

The Value of Production Index (VaPI) also registered a negative growth of 9.6 percent in June, reversing the 10.9 percent growth last year.

This was followed by the negative 1.3 percent growth in the value of net sales index and the 2.3 percent decline in the volume of net sales index.

In June, manufacturing facilities operated at 84.3 percent capacity. Around 11 out of 20 major industries had at least 80 percent capacity utilization rates during the month.

Among industries, capacity utilization was highest in basic metals, petroleum products and non-metallic mineral products.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said overall manufacturing growth may be stifled because of the seasonal lack in demand and as business activities may be hampered during the rainy season.

 “Manufacturing output will likely remain muted in the near term as business and consumer outlook for the third quarter of 2019 turned less upbeat,” he said.

In the meanwhile, he said the government must urgently ramp up efforts to improve business conditions to pull the manufacturing industry from a slump this year.

“Moving forward, domestic demand expansion is needed to support the growth of manufacturing, especially given the slowdown in global demand,” said Pernia.

“The now markedly slower inflation rate, which is back to government’s target range, bodes well for producers of manufactured goods,” he added.

Increasing public works spending in the second semester of the year, he said, will also help raise the demand for consumer goods by creating more jobs and disposable income.