The country’s production rate of goods posted a faster growth in August due to the production of petroleum products, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.

In its Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI), the PSA said the country's volume of production index (VoPI) went up by 8.5 percent in August from 4.9 percent in the previous month.

This reading was also higher compared to the 4.6 percent contraction posted a year earlier.

The expansion in VoPI was brought about by the positive growth rates of nine industry divisions.

Of these, manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products was the major contributing factor with 48 percent annual growth rate, followed by manufacture of transport equipment with 17.2 percent, and manufacture of beverages with 13.2 percent.

On the contrary, 13 industry divisions posted annual decreases with manufacture of textiles exhibiting the fastest annual drop of 5.4 percent.

According to the PSA, only 25.4 percent of the manufacturing firms surveyed operated at full capacity in August.

About 39.9 percent of the establishments operated at 70 percent to 89 percent capacity and 34.7 percent of the respondents operated below 70 percent.

Meanwhile, the value of production index (VaPI) during the month also increased at a much faster rate as it posted an 9.1 percent jump last August from 4.9 percent in the previous month.

Eight major sectors reported positive growth rates in August, led by manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products at an annual growth rate of 39.3 percent.

On the other hand, remaining 12 industry divisions posted decrements in their production with manufacture of leather and related products, including footwear, registering the fastest annual decline of 2.5 percent.

Volume of net sales year-on-year slowed down to 1.7 percent, while the rise in value also dipped to 1.2 percent.