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By Darwin G. Amojela, Reporter
FACTORY output continued its downtrend in
October as production of textiles, footwear and wearing apparel
remain weak despite expectations of a pick-up in demand during the
holiday season.
In its Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected
Industries (MISSI), the National Statistics Office (NSO) said the
volume of production index (VoPI) dropped for a third consecutive
month in October to 1.7 percent, but at a slower pace than last
year’s 19.2 percent contraction.
The NSO said the sluggish production in tobacco,
basic metals, electrical machinery and chemical products contributed
to the drop in factory output in October.
On a monthly basis, VoPI recovered, inching up
2.2 percent that month compared with the previous month’s
contraction of 1.2 percent. “The increase was mainly due to the
increases reported by 12 major sectors, led by beverages and basic
metals with two-digit growth of 16.0 and 14.8 percent,
respectively,” the NSO said.
The NSO said only 10.9 percent of the 100
manufacturing firms surveyed operated at full capacity. Average
capacity utilization stood at 80.5 percent.
Major sectors that registered more than 80
percent capacity utilization rates were machinery excluding
electrical, paper and paper products, miscellaneous manufactures,
petroleum products, basic metals, leather products, electrical
machinery, rubber products, food manufacturing and chemical
products.
More than half or 57.2 percent of the
establishments operated at 70 percent to 89 percent capacity while
31.9 percent of the establishments operated below 70 percent
capacity.
The NSO said the value of production index (VaPI)
hardly grew at 0.4 percent in October from the previous month’s
one percent contraction. Sectors that posted double-digit growth
were wood and wood products, transport equipment, petroleum
products, leather products, beverages and publishing and printing.
On a monthly basis, VaPI also grew by 2.2
percent during the period compared with the 1.1 percent decline in
September. This was primarily due to the improvement in basic metals
and beverages, with two-digit growth of 16.1 percent and 16.0
percent, respectively.
Volume of net sales slipped further by 1.1
percent from the previous month’s decline of 0.1 percent, while in
terms of value, net sale continued its uptrend, gaining 2.4 percent.
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