The manufacturing sector picked up in July 2023 in preparation for the stronger demand expectations in the fourth quarter.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed Thursday that the volume of production index for manufacturing registered a year-on-year increase of 5.7 percent in July, faster than 3.4 percent in June and 3.6 percent a year ago.
“The higher annual growth of the VoPI in July 2023 was mainly brought about by the annual increases in the same top three industry divisions that contributed to the higher annual rate of VaPI during the period,” the PSA said in a statement posted on its website.
It said the manufacture of beverages grew by 12.6 percent in July from -11.4 percent annual decrease in the past month while the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products also expanded 36.2 percent from 15.9 percent in the previous month. The manufacture of food products grew 1.2 percent, from a -3.1 percent decrease in June 2023.
The PSA said of the remaining 19 industry divisions, six registered year-on-year increases in July. In contrast, 13 industry divisions posted annual declines during the period. The highest annual drop was observed in the manufacture of furniture at -27.7 percent.
Michael Ricafort, chief economist of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said manufacturers “ramp up importation, production, inventory building and eventually distribution to the domestic and export market in preparation for the fourth quarter holiday spending season.”
He said the storm damage since the latter part of July 2023 also led to some repair activities, leading to a pickup in production activities.
The value of production index for manufacturing increased at an annual rate of 5.7 percent in July, faster than the growth of 4.2 percent in the previous month. This was, however, slower than the 12.1 percent increase in July 2022.
“The expansion in the annual growth of the VaPI in July 2023 was mainly attributed by the higher annual increase in the index of manufacture of beverages industry division with 22.6 percent annual increment in July 2023 from an annual drop of -2.7 percent in the previous month,” the PSA said.
