Manufacturers posted a slump in July.
The manufacturing integrated survey of selected industries (MISSI) showed the value of production index (VaPI) among manufacturers registered a 7.3 drop vis-vis an 11.1 percent uptick a year ago.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)attributed this to the decreases in the indices of five major industry groups with petroleum products posting the highest negative rate of 76.5 percent.
The MISSI’s volume of production index (VoPI) fell 8.1 percent compared to a 10 percent growth the prior year.
“The slowdown was mainly due to the annual decreases in six major industry groups with petroleum products and furniture and fixtures registering the highest annual decrements of 75.8 percent and 24.8 percent, respectively,” the PSA said.
The value of net sales index (VaNSI) recorded at slippage of 1.3 percent from a two-digit growth of 18.3 percent in the same month of the previous year.
The PSA said this was mainly influenced by the “decrements noted in eight major industry groups with two-digit decreases reported in basic metals (-17.5 percent), miscellaneous manufactures (-15.4 percent), electrical machinery (-14.8 percent) and leather products (-12.8 percent).
The volume of sales as reported under the volume of net sales index (VoNSI) went down by 2.2 percent, from a 17.2 percent growth in July 2018.
“The slowdown in VoNSI was driven by the downward movements noted in nine major industry groups with two-digit reduction observed in three major industry groups: furniture and fixtures (-26.8 percent), electrical machinery (-11.1 percent) and basic metals (-10.7 percent),” the PSA said.
The average capacity utilization of factories stood at 84.3 percent for the period with 60 percent of the 20 major industries monitored posting at least 80 percent capacity utilization.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said the speedy implementation of public works is seen to perk up manufacturing the rest of the year by boosting up demand.
NEDA Undersecretary for Policy and Planning Rosemarie Edillon said the decline on the construction-related manufactures reflected the slowdown in government spending on infrastructure since the first semester of 2019.
Edillon said to ensure sustained construction activity, expediting the approval of permits and requirements for construction-related projects is vital.
