The operating conditions of the Philippines’ manufacturing sector posted its softest growth in eight months in April, amid a relatively muted upturn in new business, according to a report released yesterday.
S&P Global yesterday reported the headline S&P Philippines manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which is a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance, recorded its 15th successive monthly improvement in operating conditions across manufacturing firms in the Philippines.
The 51.4 figure in April is down from the 52.5 in March and is below the average recorded over the series history.
The report said softer upturns in production and new orders and a further decrease in employment, although only marginal, resulted in a weaker improvement in business conditions in April.
“The start of the second quarter signaled a loss of momentum across the Filipino manufacturing sector. The headline PMI was at an eight-month low, with both new orders and output growing at much softer rates. Furthermore, the data suggested a shift in demand patterns as new export orders grew at the fastest rate in nearly two years and helped support the upturn in total new sales,” Maryam Baluch, economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said.
“Additionally, price pressures cooled further during the latest survey period. While operating expenses grew at a solid rate, the pace of inflation was the weakest in two-and-half-years. Reflecting softer hikes in cost burdens, manufacturers raised their selling prices at the slowest pace in 28 months,” Baluch added.
Baluch said looking ahead, manufacturers across the Philippines remained largely optimistic, as the degree of confidence in the year-ahead outlook for output reached a three-month high.
“That said, the degree of confidence was weaker than the series average. Furthermore, our latest forecast expects growth in industrial production to moderate to five percent in 2023,” Baluch said. – Angela Celis
