INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION extended its declining streak to the 13th straight month in December, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported this morning.

Preliminary results of the PSA’s latest Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries showed factory output – as measured by the volume of production index – contracting by 10.1% in December versus the declines of 7.8% in November 2019 and 9.3% in December 2018.

For full-year 2019, the factory output slump averaged 8.6% compared to the 7.1% growth average in 2018.

The Nikkei Philippines Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which uses a different set of variables, increased to 51.7 in December from 51.4 in November. A reading above 50 signals improvement in business conditions from the preceding month, while a score below that point indicates deterioration.

The report noted production of eight out of 20 industry groups fell in December, namely: petroleum products (-47.9%); basic metals (-47.9%); furniture and fixtures (-30.4%); miscellaneous manufactures (-10.5%); textiles (-9.1%); transport equipment (-3.4%); rubber and plastic products (-1.2%); and paper and paper products (-1.1%).

Average capacity utilization – the extent by which industry resources are used in the production of goods – was estimated at 84.4% with 12 of the 20 sectors registering capacity utilization rates of at least 80%. — Jobo E. Hernandez

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