PH factory output rose 25% in Oct

The volume of goods churned out by the country’s factories grew 24.7 percent year-on-year in October, the seventh-straight month of expansion as the economy emerged from COVID-19 lockdowns.

The Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) monthly integrated survey of selected industries (Missi) report for October on Thursday showed the volume of production index (VoPI) reversed the 25.4-percent contraction posted a year ago.

VoPI—a proxy for manufacturing output—had been growing since April owing to base effects. To recall, manufacturing activities stopped at the height of the most stringent lockdown restrictions imposed at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

With low-base effects waning, October’s VoPI growth was the slowest so far, with the six preceding months having posted triple-digit increases.

The PSA said 14 out of the 22 domestic industries covered by Missi recorded volume growth in October, led by fabricated metal manufacturing, whose output rose by 176.6 percent year-on-year.

Cigarette manufacturing continued to lag behind the country’s production sectors as its output shrank the fastest, down 58.6 percent year-on-year last October.

The growth in value of production index (VaPI) also slowed to 24.8 percent year-on-year, but it was an improvement compared to the 28.9-percent decline in October of last year.

Similar to factory output volume, 14 sectors’ production value climbed, with the manufacture of fabricated metal products jumping the fastest, at 176.4 percent year-on-year.

Manufacturing of tobacco products similarly registered the sharpest drop of 58.2 percent in VaPI.