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FACTORY output last March resumed its contraction as manufacturers
of food, tobacco, petroleum and textiles cut production due to
higher inflation and the anticipated slowdown in the domestic
economy, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported Tuesday.
In its Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected
Industries, the NSO reported that the volume of production index (VOPI)
dropped by 5.9 percent in March from the revised 6.3-percent growth
in February. A year ago, the country’s manufacturing output fell
7.6 percent.
Besides food, tobacco and textiles, the NSO
blamed the contraction on the double-digit declines in the
production of machinery except electrical, furniture and fixtures,
publishing and printing, miscellaneous manufactures, food
manufacturing, fabricated metal products and electrical machinery.
On a month-on-month basis, the VOPI grew by 0.9
percent due to the two-digit increases in production of non-metallic
mineral products and basic metals.
The NSO said only 9.7 percent of the 100
manufacturing firms surveyed operated at full capacity in March. The
average capacity utilization of these factories stood at 80.2
percent.
More than half or 59.1 percent of the
establishments operated at 70-percent to 89-percent capacity and
31.2 percent operated below 70-percent capacity.
In terms of value, factory output also reversed
to a 5-percent drop in March from the 7.4-percent growth in
February.
“This was primarily due to the sluggish
performance in production observed in the following sectors:
machinery except electrical, furniture and fixtures, miscellaneous
manufactures, tobacco products, textiles, electrical machinery,
fabricated metal products and publishing and printing,” the NSO
said.
On a month-on-month basis, value however
improved by 1.7 percent owing to the double-digit increases in
production value of non-metallic mineral products, basic metals and
beverages.
The value of net sales dipped by 0.2 percent
during the period, while sales volume slid by 0.2 percent.
-- Darwin G. Amojelar
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