Factory prices of locally manufactured goods slipped 0.3 percent in July, marking the third consecutive month of decline, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI) showed Tuesday.
The drop mirrored the 0.3 percent contraction recorded a year earlier.
Despite the July dip, the producer price index (PPI) for the first seven months of 2025 remained firm with a modest 0.3 percent rise.
For July alone, manufacturing output also lost momentum. The volume of production index (VoPI) fell 1.1 percent, while the value of production index (VaPI) dropped 1.3 percent.
Analysts pointed to weather disruptions and a high base from last year.
“This will likely continue to [be reflected] in the August numbers,” AP Securities research head Alfred Benjamin Garcia said.
Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development Corp., noted that weather disturbances may have stalled production.
The PSA said the decline in value output in July was driven mainly by a slowdown in food manufacturing, which fell to 17 percent in the 7th month, from 22.9 percent in June.
Food products, the heaviest-weighted division in VaPI, accounted for 40 percent of the sector’s downtrend.
Other drags came from slower production in computers, electronics and optical products (5 percent from 7.3 percent in June), and transport equipment (9.3 percent from 13 percent).
Still, sales offered some cushion. The volume of net sales index (VoNSI) rose 3.7 percent in July, while the value of net sales index (VaNSI) gained 3.4 percent. Both, however, decelerated from June’s growth of 5.9 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively.
“Lower producer prices alongside higher sales suggest firmer demand and some relief for consumers, which could bode well for the economy,” Garcia said.
Factories operated at an average capacity utilization of 77.1 percent in July, up slightly from 76.6 percent in June, with all industry divisions reporting above 60 percent utilization.
