Daily Tribune‘The expansion in the annual Value of Production Index growth was mainly driven by the beverages industry division with its 22.6 percent growth in July year-on-year as it recovered from its annual drop of -2.7 percent in June.’
Philippine manufacturing output grew in both value and volume in July, according to preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
The Value of Production Index demonstrated a 5.7 percent increase in July 2023, a jump from the prior month's 4.2 percent growth. However, this rate of growth was slower than the 12.1 percent expansion recorded in July last year.
The expansion in the annual growth of VaPI was mainly driven by the beverages industry division with its 22.6 percent growth in July year-on-year as it recovered from its annual drop of -2.7 percent in June, PSA said in its 7 September report.
The manufacture of beverages contributed 38.3 percent to the annual uptrend of VaPI for the manufacturing section in July 2023.
Beverages
Out of the 22 industry divisions for the section, the manufacture of beverages was the fourth industry division with the highest weight in the computation of VaPI.
Also boosting the higher year-on-year VaPI growth were the manufactures of coke (and refined petroleum products which grew by 26.6 percent from 7.0 percent in the previous month, and food products, which grew 3.1 percent in July from -0.3 percent in June.
Of the remaining 19 industry divisions, seven exhibited annual upturns during the period. Meanwhile, 12 industry divisions posted annual declines in July 2023. The manufacture of furniture posted the fastest annual drop of -25.7 percent during the period.
At the same time, the volume of production index (VoPI) also went up by 5.7 percent in July, up from 3.4 percent in June this year and 3.6 percent in July 2022.
Top three industry divisions
The same top three industry divisions that contributed to the higher annual rate of VaPI were also behind the higher annual growth of VoPI in July 2023, said PSA.
The manufacture of beverages expanded in volume by 12.6 percent from -11.4 percent; coke and refined petroleum products grew by 36.2 percent from 15.9 percent; and food products rose by 1.2 percent from -3.1 percent in June 2023.
Of the remaining 19 industry divisions, six registered year-on-year increases in July. In contrast, 13 industry divisions posted annual declines. The manufacture of furniture registered the highest yearly drop at 27.7 percent.
Meanwhile, all industry divisions reported capacity utilization rates of more than 50 percent during the month.
Average capacity utilization for manufacturing in July 2023 was reported at 73.5 percent, slightly up from 73.3 percent in the previous month.
PSA added that 27.8 percent of responding establishments operated at full capacity or between 90 percent and 100 percent, while 37.3 percent operated at 70 percent to 89 percent capacity and 34.9 percent operated below 70 percent capacity.
The top three industry divisions in terms of capacity utilization were computer, electronic and optical products at 81.0 percent; rubber and plastic products at 80.7 percent; and machinery and equipment except electrical at 80.4 percent.
