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FACTORY output recovered in April as manufacturers, particularly
makers of footwear and wearing apparel, increased production
capacity in preparation for the start of school year, the National
Statistics Office (NSO) reported Wednesday.
In its Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected
Industries, the NSO said that the volume of production index (VoPI)
expanded by 5.2 percent in April, a turnaround from March’s 6.1
percent contraction. A year ago, the country’s manufacturing
output drop by 1.3 percent.
The NSO attributed the improved manufacturers’
production to the two-digit increments in output in nine major
sectors—footwear and wearing apparel, leather products, beverages,
wood and wood products, non-metallic mineral products, rubber and
plastic products, tobacco products, food manufacturing and basic
metals.
VoPI on a month-on-month basis grew 5.5 percent
in April due to the two-digit increases in production output
observed in tobacco products, petroleum products, and nonmetallic
mineral products.
The NSO said 9.9 percent of the 100
manufacturing firms surveyed operated at full capacity in April. The
average capacity utilization of these factories stood at 80.7
percent.
More than half or 58.9 percent of the
establishments operated at 70-percent to 89-percent capacity and
31.2 percent of the establishments operated below 70-percent
capacity.
-- Darwin G. Amojelar
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