Manufacturing in Philippines sustains growth in November

Manufacturing output sustained its growth in November 2016, helped by higher production of petroleum products, transport equipment and food, the government said on Tuesday.

The National Economic and Development Authority said in a statement that the volume of production index for the month of November increased by 14.6 percent from last year's 4.4 percent. It said the value of production index for manufacturing also grew by 10.6 percents, significant rebound from the 2.2 percent decline last year.

"The manufacturing sector is expected to exhibit even stronger growth in December 2016 because of increased consumer demand during the Christmas season of 2016 compared to 2015," Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said.

"Looking ahead, we see the sector benefitting from strong private and public investments," he said.

He said that low inflation, low unemployment, and strong remittances will also continue to drive domestic demand.

For consumer goods, the agency said the food subsection registered double-digit growth in both production and sales due to favorable farming conditions.

"The food subsector registered a volume of production growth rate of 24.6 percent, and a value of production growth rate of 26.7 percent from a 10-percent decline in both volume and value last year," the agency said.

For intermediate goods, the agency said the production value of petroleum products has been growing steadily for three consecutive months, following consistent declines since 2015. It said the petroleum subsection posted 80.3 percent and 68.8 percent growth rates for volume and value of production, respectively.

For capital goods, the agency said the transport equipment subsector posted 40.4 percent growth in production volume and 39.1 percent growth in production value, supported by local demand for vehicles such as passenger cars, light rucks and buses.