The local factory output rose anew in October owing to strong production in fabricated metal, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
In its Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI) released on Thursday, Dec. 9, the PSA said the country's volume of production index (VoPI) went up by 24.7 percent in October. The index slid 25.4 percent in the same period last year.
However, compared with the previous month, the latest VoPI grew at a much slower pace compared with the 123.1 percent expansion seen last September.
The PSA said the increase in VoPI was brought about by the positive growth rates of 14 industry divisions.
Of them, manufacture of fabricated metal products was the major contributing factor with 176.6 percent growth. On the contrary, the remaining eight sectoral clusters recorded decreases led by manufacture of tobacco products with -58.6 percent annual rate.
In October, the average capacity utilization rate for the manufacturing sector was also slightly higher at 67 percent from 66.6 percent in the previous month.
There were 20 out of 22 industry divisions with more than 50 percent average capacity utilization rate during the month.
They were led by manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products (81.1 percent), followed by manufacture of electrical equipment (77.3 percent), and manufacture of furniture (76.5 percent).
Less than one-fourth of factories operated at full capacity.
The proportion of establishments that operated at full capacity was 20.5 percent of the total. Meanwhile, 37.4 percent operated at 70 to 89 percent capacity, while 42.1 percent operated below 70 percent capacity.
The value of production index (VaPI) during the period also increased by 24.8 percent, but it is at a much slower pace compared with 122.5 percent in September.
The growth in VaPI was contributed by the increases in 14 of the 22 industry divisions. Among these, the top contributor was manufacture of fabricated metal products except machinery and equipment with 176.4 percent annual growth rate.
On the other hand, the remaining eight industry divisions recorded decreases with manufacture of tobacco products registering the fastest annual decline of -58.2 percent.
The value of net sales accelerated at a faster rate of 13.9 percent in October compared with the 7.1 percent in the previous month.