MANUFACTURING output contracted in March, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Wednesday, with the Value of Production Index (VaPI) falling by 1.7 percent and the Volume of Production Index (VoPI) also down 0.8 percent.
Both indices grew by 5.7 percent and 7.2 percent a month earlier and were also positive at 9.1 percent and 6.0 percent in March last year.
The year-on-year drops in both VaPI and VoPI, the PSA said in a statement, were primarily due to declines in food production.
For VaPI, the manufacture of food products contracted by 7.2 percent following 1.6-percent growth in February, while for VoPI the drop was 8.1 percent from 1.4-percent growth a month earlier.
Year to date, however, VaPI and VoPI remained positive with growths of 1.8 percent and 3.0 percent, respectively.
"The manufacture of food products contributed 22.6 percent to the downtrend of VaPI for the manufacturing sector in March 2024," the PSA said.
It was also the second-highest weight among 22 industry divisions in the computation of the VaPI, it added.
Twelve out of the 22 industries plunged during the month while seven posted annual increases, the PSA data showed.
The manufacture of chemical and chemical products posted the highest growth rate of 26.4 percent, while the biggest drop of 26.4 percent was recorded in the manufacture of wood, bamboo, cane, rattan articles and related items.
As for the VoPI, March's contraction was also due to a slowdown in the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products (5.3 percent from 15.2 percent) and coke and refined petroleum products (10.2 percent from 22.1 percent).
Twelve of the remaining 19 divisions also posted a decline, while seven rose.
Average capacity utilization, meanwhile, slightly improved to 75.3 percent from 75.1 percent in February.
"All industry divisions reported capacity utilization rates of more than 60.0 percent during the month," the PSA said.
More than a quarter — 28.5 percent or 176 of the 618 establishments that participated in the PSA — said they operated at full capacity, defined as 90 to 100 percent.
Meanwhile, 41.4 percent (256 firms) said they operated at 70- to 89-percent capacity, while 30.1 percent (186 firms) reported operating below 70 percent.
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