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THE
country’s manufacturing output has contracted less—by
almost 6 percent in March—although the reduction from
last year’s contraction of -7.8 percent has not reached
the positive side of the equation because contractions
and double-digit decreases in 16 major sectors had
continued into this year, according to the preliminary
results of the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected
Industries (Missi).
“This
was primarily due to the sluggish performance in
production observed in machinery except electrical,
furniture and fixtures, miscellaneous manufactures,
tobacco products, textiles, electrical machinery,
fabricated metal products and publishing and printing,”
the National Statistics Office (NSO) said in a
statement.
The NSO
said the slight increase in production on a monthly
basis came from two-digit increases in nonmetallic
mineral products and basic metals.
The
country’s Value of Production Index (VaPI) for the
sector followed the path of the Volume of Production
Index (VoIP) to post a lower reduction of -5 percent.
On a
month-on-month basis, the VaPI reduced by 1.7 percent in
March 2008 the contraction percentage because of
double-digit increases in production value of
nonmetallic mineral products, basic metals and
beverages.
For the
Missi in March, the average capacity utilization rate
for total manufacturing was estimated at 80.2 percent,
with nine major sectors registering more than 80-percent
capacity utilization.
These
sectors were basic metals, leather products, food
manufacturing, paper and paper products, miscellaneous
manufactures, petroleum products, electrical machinery,
chemical products other than plastic, and rubber and
plastic products.
The
percentage of establishments that operated at full
capacity or at 90 percent to 100 percent was 9.7 percent
in March 2008. More than half, or 59.1 percent, operated
at 70-percent to 89-percent capacity, while the rest
operated below 70-percent capacity. |
