MANUFACTURING output rebounded in April, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday, with both value and volume growing by 5.9 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively, following contractions of 6.8 percent and 5.8 percent a month earlier.

The results were lower than the 10.7 percent and 8.0 percent recorded in April last year, preliminary PSA data showed.

Year to date, the Value of Production Index (VaPI) remained negative at — 0.6 percent, while the Volume of Production Index (VoPI) was up 0.5 percent.

April's VaPI and VoPI gains were due to rebounds in food production, the PSA said.

For VaPI, the manufacture of food products grew by 7.4 percent following a 12.5-percent contraction in March, while for VoPI, the increase was 6.8 percent from the previous month's 13.2-percent drop.

"The manufacture of food products contributed 31.4 percent to the uptrend of VaPI for the manufacturing section in April 2024," the PSA noted.

It also had the highest weight among 22 industry divisions used in the computation of the VaPI, it added.

The manufacture of transport equipment — up 6.6 percent following an 11.4-percent plunge in March — and electrical equipment production, which saw a 40.9-percent surge in output after dropping 4.3 percent a month earlier, also contributed to the VaPI rise.

Thirteen out of the 19 remaining industries grew during the month while six contracted.

The manufacture of wood, bamboo, cane, rattan articles and related products plunged the most by 13.9 percent.

As for the VoPI, April's increase was also due to a recovery in transport equipment production, to 5.1 percent from March's 12.0-percent drop, and a 32.3-percent gain for fabricated metal products manufacturing from the previous month's 3.1-percent fall.

Twelve of the remaining 19 divisions also posted growth while seven declined.

Wood, bamboo, cane, rattan articles and related products this time grew the most in terms of value at 11.2 percent.

Average capacity utilization, meanwhile, dipped to 75.2 percent from 75.3 percent in March.

It was still higher than the year-earlier 72.5 percent.

"All industry divisions reported capacity utilization rates of more than 60.0 percent during the month," the PSA said.

More than a quarter — 28.8 percent or 173 of the 600 establishments that participated in the PSA's Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries — said they operated at full capacity, defined as 90 to 100 percent.

Meanwhile, 42.3 percent (254 firms) said they operated at 70 — to 89-percent capacity, while 28.9 percent (173 firms) reported operating below 70 percent.

Commenting on the results, Pantheon Macroeconomics economist Miguel Chanco said that the start to the second quarter of this year was "decent, but far from robust."

"Domestic demand will continue to be weighed down by weak household balance sheets, soft remittances growth in peso terms and tight monetary policy," he added.