● The Philippine manufacturing sector contracted further in October from September, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed
● The value and volume of production index in October dropped 2.2% and 1.8%, respectively, but much slower than September’s -6.3% and -5%
● The slower decline was due mainly to the annual growth rate of manufacture of beverages industry division
● The average capacity utilization rate for the manufacturing section in October 2024 was reported at 75.7% from the 75.4% average capacity utilization rate in September 2024
The Philippine manufacturing sector contracted further in October from September, the second consecutive month in a row, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
The value of production index (VaPI) in October declined 2.2% but this was slower than September’s annual decrease of 6.3%. It is also in contrast to the 0.8% increase recorded in October 2023, according to PSA’s latest Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI).
The volume of production index (VoPI) likewise recorded a slower decline of 1.8% in October 2024 from the previous month’s annual drop of 5% and against October 2023’s annual increase of 1.4%.
The latest indexes bring the average growth rate of VaPI and VoPI from January to October 2024 to 0.8% and 1.7%, respectively, vis-a-vis the same period last year.
The slower decline of VaPI was mainly attributed to the annual growth rate of manufacture of the beverages industry division at 8.6% in October, contributing 21.8% to the trend of VaPI.
Other primary contributors were the acceleration in the annual growth rate of manufacture transport equipment at 7.9%, and the annual increase observed in the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products at 1.4%.
Of the remaining 19 industry divisions, 11 exhibited annual increases while eight industry divisions posted annual decreases in October 2024. The manufacture of basic metals posted the highest annual decrement of 29.3% during the period.
For VoPI, the slower month-on-month decline was primarily brought about by the growth in the manufacture of the beverages industry division at 6.8%. Other contributors include the double-digit annual increment in the manufacture of wood, bamboo, cane, rattan articles and related products at 26.4%, and the faster annual increase of manufacture of transport equipment at 6.7%.
Furthermore, 10 out of the 19 remaining industry divisions exhibited annual increases during the period while nine industry divisions posted annual declines.
The top three industry divisions contributing to the overall growth rate of VaPI and VoPI in October 2024 were the manufacture of basic metals; coke and refined petroleum products; and other non-metallic mineral products.
The value of net sales index for the manufacturing section went down 4.4% relative to its annual decrease of 4.8% in September 2024 while the volume of net sales index registered a faster annual drop of 4.1% in October 2024 from its annual decline of 3.5% in September 2024.
Based on MISSI’s responding establishments, the average capacity utilization rate for the manufacturing sector in October 2024 was reported at 75.7% from the 75.4% average capacity utilization rate in September 2024.
All industry divisions reported capacity utilization rates of more than 60% during the month. The top three industry divisions in terms of reported capacity utilization rate were manufacture of machinery and equipment except electrical (85.9%), manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products (82.6%), and manufacture of textiles (82.3%)
