Wholesale prices of manufactured goods declined in August, amid a slowdown in manufacturers’ output and sales.
The Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI) for August showed that the bellwether producers’ price index (PPI) for the month contracted by 1 percent compared to July’s 0.4 percent contraction.
Year to date, the PPI has contracted by 0.8 percent.
Production for the month grew 1.8 percent, as measured by the value of production index (VaPI), a slowdown relative to its annual increase of 6.4 percent in July.
This brings the average growth rate of VaPI for manufacturing from January to August to 0.8 percent, the PSA said.
Last year, VaPI grew 6.1 percent for the same month.
PSA said the slower year-on-year growth rate of VaPI for manufacturing in August was mainly attributed to the slower annual growth rate of the manufacture of food products industry division at 1 percent during the month from an annual increment of 14 percent in July 2024.
The manufacture of food products contributed 41.3 percent to the deceleration in the annual rate of VaPI in August. Out of the 22 industry divisions for the manufacturing, food products was the industry with the highest weight in the computation of VaPI for manufacturing.
Other sectors that contributed to the VaPI slowdown are the computer, electronic and optical products industry division and coke and refined petroleum products.
Manufacturers also eked out growth in terms of volume in August with the volume of production index (VoPI) recorded at a 2.8 percent expansion, slower than July’s 6.8 percent and last year’s 5.6 percent growth in August.
This brings the year-to-date average growth rate of VoPI to 1.7 percent.
The PSA said the deceleration in VoPI was primarily driven by slowdown in the manufacture of food products; manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products, and manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products
Manufacturers’ sales grew 0.7 percent for the month, according to the value of net sales index (VaNSI), lower than the prior month’s 5 percent growth.
“This brings the average growth rate of VaNSI for manufacturing from January to August to 0.6 percent,” the PSA said.
The August VaNSI, however, is an improvement from last year’s 0.2 percent increase for the same month.
The slowdown is attributed to the slower sales growth value in the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products and the manufacture of chemical and chemical products.
Growth of sales volume as measured by the volume of net sales index (VoNSI) slowed to 1.7 percent compared to a 5.4 percent in July.
This brings the year-to-date average VoNSI growth to 1.4 percent.
August’s VoNSI, however, is still an improvement from the 0.4 percent contraction in August last year.
A slowdown in sales volume in the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products, manufacture of chemical and chemical products, and manufacture of transport equipment led the slowdown in Vo, 0.4 percent annual drop from an annual increase of 1.9 percent in July 2024.
The PSA said factory utilization for the month was recorded at an average of 75.5 percent, lower than the 75. 7 percent in July but higher than last year’s 74 percent for the same month.
