Preliminary results of the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI) for January 1999 indicated that the year-on-year declines in the value and volume of production in manufacturing have been slowing down since November 1998.

Production decreased by 2.5 percent in terms of value and 3.7 percent in terms of volume from January 1998, although it increased by 6.6 percent in value and 6.5 percent in volume from the previous month. However the value of net sales dropped by 12.2 percent and its corresponding volume, by 19.0 percent.

Comparing the performance of production and net sales, there appears to be a move by manufacturers to gradually increase output in order to replenish drawn-down inventories and to meet anticipated increase in export and domestic demand.

Gainers in terms of both value and volume of production were wood & wood products, rubber products, textile, transport equipment, and electrical machinery.

Wood and wood products posted a 63.2 percent uptick in value and 59.1 increase in volume of production. Rubber products recorded an increase of 50.3 percent and 32.1 percent in value and volume of production, respectively. The value and volume of production in textile increased by 17.2 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively. Transport equipment increased by 14.5 in value and by 2.0 in volume of production. Electrical machinery moved up by 8.0 percent in value and by 2.0 percent in volume.

The drop in production was largely attributed to the declines posted by petroleum products, wearing apparel, basic metals, non-metallic mineral products, and chemicals.

Petroleum products posted year-on-year decreases of 32.9 percent in production value and 26.8 percent in volume. Net sales during the same period also dropped by 30.5 percent in value and 47.6 percent in volume.

The value and volume of production of wearing apparel dropped by 21.3 percent and 11.1 percent, respectively, due to the closure of or strike in four key sample establishments. However, volume of net sales increased by 9.4 percent.

Among basic metals, iron and steel contributed to the 18.2 percent decrease in production value with a decline of 18.4 percent.

Non-metallic mineral products declined by 34.1 percent in value and by 18.6 percent in volume of production. Similarly, the value and volume of net sales dropped by 49.6 percent and 56.3 percent, respectively. The decline in this sector can be attributed to the low production of cement.

Chemicals sector posted a year-on-year decrease of 10.3 percent in value of production due to decreases in basic industrial chemicals, paints, industrial gases and plastic and plastic products. The volume of production also registered a decline of 19.5 percent during the period.

Capacity utilization as reported by responding firms and establishments was almost the same a year ago, with about 40 percent operating below 70% utilization and about 17 percent operating at full capacity (90%-100%). Capacity utilization is defined as the ratio of output to the maximum rated capacity of the plant.

These results were based on the response of 361 sample establishments which comprised 65.6 percent of the total number of sample enterprises covered by the survey.

Year-on-year decreases were observed in 8 out of 16 major sectors resulting in a 2.5 percent decline in the value of production. Posting the biggest drop among the sectors was petroleum products which decreased by 32.9 percent due primarily to the low price of imported crude oil. Other sectors that posted year-on-year decreases were wearing apparel (-21.3%), basic metals (-18.2%), non-metallic mineral products (-34.1%), and chemicals (-10.3%).

On the other hand, wood & wood products posted a year-on-year growth of 63.2 percent. Other sectors that largely contributed to overall growth were textile (17.2%), electrical machinery (8.0%), rubber products (50.3%) and transport equipment (14.5%).

On a month-on-month basis, the value of production index increased by 6.6 percent. Seven sectors contributed to the increase, led by electrical machinery which grew by 19.0 percent. Other sectors that posted growths were transport equipment (40.3%), rubber products (48.3%), food manufacturing (1.8%), paper & paper products (6.8%), non-metallic mineral products (7.3%), and tobacco (9.3%).

On the other hand, nine sectors declined in terms of value of production, led by petroleum products which decreased by 17.2 percent. Other sectors that decreased were basic metals (-21.6%), chemicals (-15.4%), wearing apparel (-13.7%), wood & wood products (-13.8%), and beverage (-17.8%).

The value of net sales for January 1999 decreased by 12.2 percent compared to same month last year. Out of sixteen sectors, nine sectors posted decreases led by petroleum products which declined by 30.5 percent. Other sectors that recorded declines were food manufacturing (-15.1%), non-metallic mineral products (-49.6%), basic metals (-16.0%), paper & paper products (-26.7%), wood & wood products (-27.9%), beverages (-41.0%), wearing apparel (-3.1%), and furniture & fixtures (-10.0%).

On the other hand, seven sectors posted growths. These were: chemicals (17.0%), electrical machinery (6.3%), textile (9.0%), transport equipment (2.7%), miscellaneous manufactures (21.0%), rubber products (6.0%), and tobacco (41.5%).

On a month-on-month basis, the value of net sales decreased by 2.7 percent compared to the previous month. Leading was petroleum products which decreased by 17.6 percent. Other sectors that posted declines were wearing apparel (-22.6%), beverages (-32.8%), food manufacturing (-1.5%), basic metals (-4.0%), non-metallic mineral products (-6.7%), paper & paper products (-4.6%), furniture & fixtures (-10.1%), tobacco (-6.7%), and miscellaneous manufactures (-2.6%).

On the other hand, six sectors posted increases, namely: chemicals (16.8%), rubber products (49.9%), textile (11.05), electrical machinery (5.3%), wood & wood products (12.4%), and transport equipment (2.6%).

The volume of net sales for January 1999 posted a decline of 19.0 percent over the same month last year. Decreases were noted in eleven sectors led by petroleum products which dipped by 47.6 percent. This was followed by food manufacturing (-20.0%), non-metallic mineral products (-56.3%), paper & paper products (-29.1%), wood & wood products (-29.7%), beverages (-43.0%), basic metals (-8.4%), transport equipment (-8.5%), furniture & fixtures (-24.6%), textile (-2.1%), and rubber products (-6.8%).

On the other hand, five sectors posted growths in their sales volume. This was led by wearing apparel which increased by 9.4 percent. This was followed by chemicals (5.0%), tobacco (39.1%), miscellaneous manufactures (10.4%), and electrical machinery (0.4%).

On a month-on-month basis, the volume of net sales dropped by 10.2 percent over the previous month. Petroleum products which posted a decline of 48.9 percent led the sectors. Other sectors recording decreases were wearing apparel (-19.5%), beverages (-33.6%), non-metallic mineral products (-17.5%), food manufacturing (-1.6%), paper & paper products (-4.4%), basic metals (-2.0%), furniture & fixtures (-7.5%), miscellaneous manufactures (-4.6%) and tobacco (-7.5%).

On the other hand, sectors that posted increases were chemicals (13.3%), rubber products (40.9%), textile (8.0%), wood & wood products (9.6%), electrical machinery (2.8%), and transport equipment (0.4%).