For the 10th straight month, the Philippine manufacturing sector posted increases in both volume and value in October 2018, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
In its latest Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI), PSA reported that the Volume of Production Index (VoPI) rose 3.9% while the Value of Production Index (VaPI) climbed 3.3%.
Both VoPI and VaPI have been in positive territory for 10 consecutive months since January 2018.
Increases in the production of petroleum, export-oriented products and non-metallic mineral products drove the expansion of manufacturing output in October.
Among the 13 major industry groups to report increases in VoPI, eight recorded two-digit growths, namely, textiles (41.9%), miscellaneous manufactures (31.2%), petroleum products (30.8%), machinery except electrical (17.6%), wood and wood products (17.1%), electrical machinery (16.9%), non-metallic mineral products (11.9%), and paper and paper products (10.7%).
For VaPI, nine of the 11 major industry groups significantly contributed to growth in value, led by petroleum products, with a two-digit increase of 53%. Other major industry groups with two-digit increases were textiles (49.7%), miscellaneous manufactures (36.9%), electrical machinery (24.4%), beverages (19.8%), paper and paper products (16.7%), machinery except electrical (14.7%), wood and wood products (11.8%) and transport equipment (10.1%).
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) expects manufacturing of construction-related products, such as iron and steel and cement, to be driven up by government’s spending on infrastructure and other capital outlay, and the sustained growth in private construction activities.
“Over the near- to medium-term, we see that the Build, Build, Build program and the recently signed Regular Foreign Investment Negative List (RFINL) will help in raising the productivity of the manufacturing sector,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said.
Aside from increasing foreign participation in contracts for the construction and repair of locally funded public works, the RFINL allows foreign-owned training centers that specialize in skills development, upgrading the proficiency of the local workforce.
MISSI is a monthly report that monitors the production, net sales, inventories, and capacity utilization of selected manufacturing establishments to provide flash indicators on the performance of the manufacturing sector.
