The country’s manufacturing activity sustained its double-digit growth pace for the seventh straight month in July, the government reported this morning.
Preliminary results from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed factory output, as measured by the Volume of Production Index, increasing 11.8% year on year in July, faster compared to June’s 10.6%, but was a reversal of July 2017’s 5.1% contraction.
Notable gains were observed in the production of fabricated metal products (39.7%), petroleum products (38.3%), textiles (33.5%), beverages (21.8%), miscellaneous manufactures (19.9%), basic metals (19.1%), and machinery except electrical (12.1%).
On the other hand, sectors which saw declines in July were those in printing (-68.9%), tobacco products (-64.6%), footwear and wearing apparel (-17.9%), and wood and wood products (-9.3%).
Capacity utilization rate, which represents how much of factory capacity is in use, averaged 84.2% with 11 of the 20 sectors registered capacity utilization rates of at least 80%. — Marissa Mae M. Ramos

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