• Manufacturing Output Down in April 2000

After posting growths in the first quarter of 2000, volume of production in manufacturing declined by 4.0 percent in April 2000 according to the preliminary results of the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI).

Sectors which contributed to the decrease in the volume of production were chemicals, basic metals, textile, electrical machinery, wood & wood products, and beverage.

• Net Sales Still Up

Inspite of the slack in production, both value and volume of net sales moved up apparently disposing of inventories. Sectors which declined in their production but exhibited growths in volume of net sales were electrical machinery and beverage.

Wearing apparel was the top gainer in both value and volume of net sales while rubber products posted the biggest decline in net sales.

• Capacity Utilization at 81.6%

Average capacity utilization for April 2000 for manufacturing was estimated at 81.6 percent, down by 0.1 percentage point from 81.7 percent last year. Six out of 16 sectors decelerated in terms of capacity utilization rate as compared to the same month last year. Petroleum refineries had the highest capacity utilization rate while basic metals posted the lowest capacity utilization rate.

Value of Production

In April 2000, the value of production index (VaPI) of 482.0 increased by 3.6 percent from 465.2 in April 1999. Year-on year increases were observed in 11 out of 16 major sectors (See Annex 1-A). Double-digit increases were seen in the following sectors: petroleum refineries (62.2%), paper & paper products (53.0%), wearing apparel (26.1%), non-metallic mineral products (21.2%) and tobacco (14.7%).

On the other hand, sectors that exhibited double-digit decreases were chemicals (-18.6%), basic metals (-15.9%) and electrical machinery (-10.2%).

Volume of Production

The volume of production index (VoPI) for total manufacturing declined by 4.0 percent to 128.1 from 133.4 of the same month last year. Six out of 16 sectors posted year-on-year decreases led by chemicals with 22.7 percent decline.(See Annex 1-B).Other sectors which contributed to the negative performance were basic metals (-19.5%), textile (-11.3%), electrical machinery (-11.2%), wood & wood products (-3.6%) and beverage (-0.2%). Slowdown in the production in these sectors can be attributed either to low demand for these products, or lack of raw materials, or strikes which resulted to closure of some plants and partial shutdown of machinery.

On the other hand, improvements in the following sectors were noted: paper & paper products (50.0%),wearing apparel (24.5%), tobacco (14.9%), other manufacturing (7.6%), petroleum products (6.7%), non-metallic minerals (6.7%), rubber products (5.3%), food manufacturing (3.9%), furniture & fixtures (3.4%) and transport equipment (2.4%). Improvements in these sectors can be attributed to the higher demand for the products from both domestic and export markets.

Value of Net Sales

The value of net sales for April 2000 increased by 24.1 percent compared to the same month last year. Eight out of 16 major sectors showed improvements in their value of net sales. Leading sector was wearing apparel posting 83.7 percent growth over the same month last year (See Annex 2-A). Other sectors that recorded increases were electrical machinery (82.3%), petroleum products (73.4%), miscellaneous manufactures (36.4%), beverage (13.9%), non-metallic mineral products (8.1%), chemicals (2.9%) and paper & paper products (1.1%).

On the other hand, rubber products had the biggest decline of 46.7 percent. Other sectors with lower values of net sales were transport equipment (-37.1%), furniture and fixtures (-25.9%), wood & wood products (-14.8%), basic metals (-14.3%), tobacco (-9.8%), food manufacturing (-7.8%) and textile (-4.8%).

Volume of Net Sales

The volume of net sales for April 2000 increased by 10.8 percent over the same month last year. Increases were observed in 6 out of 16 sectors led by wearing apparel which increased by 81.5 percent (See Annex 2-B). Other sectors that exhibited double-digit increases were electrical machinery (80.1%), miscellaneous manufactures (49.7%) and petroleum products (14.0%).

On the other hand, decreases were observed in 10 out of 16 sectors led by rubber products which decreased by 46.1 percent. Other sectors that declined were transport equipment (-41.0%), furniture & fixtures (-25.9%), textile (-20.7%), basic metals (-15.2%), and wood & wood products (-14.8%).

Capacity Utilization

The proportion of responding establishments that operated at full capacity (90%-100%) in April 2000 increased to 18.8 percent from 15.7 percent of the same month last year. On the other hand, about 37.4 percent operated below 70% capacity rate compared to 38.9 percent in April 1999.

The April 2000 average capacity utilization rate for manufacturing was estimated at 81.6 percent, marginally lower than the 81.7 percent posted last year (See Annex 3A). Of the 16 sectors, five sectors posted lower capacity utilization rates as compared to a year ago. Basic metals had the lowest capacity utilization rate at 68.5 percent. Other sectors which registered lower capacity utilization rates were beverage (80.8%), wood & wood products (73.4%), chemicals (78.8%) and electrical machinery (89.1%).

On the other hand, ten sectors showed improvements in their capacity utilization rates. Leading sector was petroleum refineries which recorded an average capacity utilization rate of 89.6 percent. Other sectors with higher capacity utilization as compared to a year ago were food manufacturing (76.2%), tobacco (85.2%), wearing apparel (78.8%), furniture & fixtures (82.4%), paper & paper products (83.3%), rubber products (89.5%), non-metallic minerals (84.2%), transport equipment (83.2%) and miscellaneous manufactures (84.5%).

Response Rate

These results were based on the response of 344 sample establishments, which comprised 65.9 percent of the total number of establishments covered by the survey.

ANNEX 1-A

VALUE OF PRODUCTION INDEX (APRIL 2000)

YEAR-ON-YEAR

MONTH-ON-MONTH

Note: Sectors are ranked according to their contribution to the overall April 2000 growth rate.
r - revised due to updating of data from late responding establishments.

ANNEX 1-B

VOLUME OF PRODUCTION INDEX (APRIL 2000)

YEAR-ON-YEAR

MONTH-ON-MONTH

Note: Sectors are ranked according to their contribution to the overall April 2000 growth rate.
r - revised due to updating of data from late responding establishments.

ANNEX 2-A

NET SALES VALUE (APRIL 2000)

YEAR-ON-YEAR

MONTH-ON-MONTH

Note: Sectors are ranked according to their contribution to the overall April 2000 growth rate.

ANNEX 2-B

NET SALES VOLUME (APRIL 2000)

YEAR-ON-YEAR

MONTH-ON-MONTH

Note: Sectors are ranked according to their contribution to the overall April 2000 growth rate.

ANNEX 3-A

Distribution of Key Enterprise by Capacity Utilization
(In percent)

ANNEX 3-B

Average Capacity Utilization by Major Sector

ANNEX 4

Percentage Changes in Production and Net Sales of Key Enterprises: April 1999 – April 2000

r - revised due to updating of data from late responding establishments

Source: National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines