FACTORY output in January likely sustained a double-digit growth, albeit slower than a month ago, driven by robust demand for locally-manufactured products overseas, Moody’s Analytics, a division of Moody’s Corp., said in a report over the weekend.
Moody’s predicted that industrial production likely grew by 15 percent in January, down from 23 percent recorded a month ago.
“We expect Philippine manufacturing conditions to have remained strong in January, with industrial production growth of 15 percent year-on-year, down from December’s unsustainably high 23 percent. Philippine producers are receiving a boost from stronger global demand,” Moody’s said.
It said the robust manufacturing output was “visible in improvements in electronics production.”
Manufacturing output posted double-digit growth in both December 2016 and full-year 2016 due to increase in production of petroleum products, food manufactures and transport equipment.
Based on the Philippine Statistics Authority’s Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries for December 2016, the Volume of Production Index for manufacturing increased to 23 percent from 5 percent in the same period in 2015.
The Value of Production Index for manufacturing rose 19.4 percent, from the 2.7-percent decline recorded in December 2015.
As a result, full-year Volume of Production Index for manufacturing grew 14.4 percent for year 2016 from 2.5 percent growth recorded in 2015.
National Economic and Development Authority director-general and Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said the sustained growth in manufacturing showed that there was business and consumer confidence in the domestic economy.
Transport equipment recorded growth in production volume and value of 34.3 percent and 35.6 percent, respectively in December 2016. Meanwhile, construction-related manufactures sustained the upward trend, primarily in response to the increase in demand for both residential (19.2 percent) and non-residential buildings (27.3 percent) during the third quarter of 2016.
