Factory output posted its 14th consecutive month of decline in January albeit at a slower pace, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported earlier this morning.
Preliminary results of the PSA’s latest Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industrie (MISSI), showed factory output – as measured by the Volume of Production index – contracting by 1.6% year on year in January versus the revised declines of 9.1% in December and 4.2% in January 2019.
Factory output has been on a decline since December 2018, extending this losing streak to 14 straight months.
The IHS Markit Philippines Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) – which uses a different set of considerations – increased that month to 52.1 from December 2019’s 51.7. A reading above 50 signals improvement in business conditions from the preceding month, while a score below that point indicates deterioration.
The PSA reported year-on-year declines in eleven out of 20 major industry groups in January, of which eight were in double-digits. These were wood and wood products (-42.6%); petroleum products (-39.7%); basic metals (-23.8%); miscellaneous manufactures (-23.2%); tobacco products (-18.3%); paper and paper products (-14.3%); textiles (-11.5%); and furniture and fixtures (-11.3%).
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%. — Carmina Angelica V. Olano
