Production volume for total manufacturing in May 1999 increased by 2.4 percent, while net sales volume decreased by 4.4 percent compared to a year ago according to the preliminary results of the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI).

The 2.4 percent year-on-year growth of volume of production decelerated from 4.2 percent in April. On the other hand, the 4.4 percent decrease in the volume of net sales came after an increase of 1.4 percent in April.

Food manufacturing on the strength of the recovery in agriculture; rubber products, and chemicals with improved demand, and transport equipment turned in positive performance in both production and sales.

On the other hand, non-metallic mineral products and paper & paper products, and electrical machinery with a few firms and/or machinery shutting down; and wood & wood products, furniture & fixtures, wearing apparel, beverage, and tobacco affected by lesser job orders and/or high finished goods inventory posted decreases in both.

Considering also the use of available capacity, food and rubber products performed well during the month contrasted with the performance of beverage, tobacco and non-metallic mineral products. All the other sectors showed indications of scaling capacities and managing inventories vis-à-vis production and sales performance.

 
Value of Production

In May 1999, the value of production index (VaPI) of 476.1 increased by 4.7 percent from 454.7 in May 1998. Year-on-year increases were observed in 8 out of 16 major sectors (See Annex 1A). Among the sectors, food manufacturing posted the highest year-on-year VaPI growth of 22.8 percent which can be attributed to the production increases in milled and refined sugar and coconut products. Other sectors that posted double-digit increases were petroleum products (14.5%), chemicals (12.9%), transport equipment (18.4%), rubber products (22.9%), beverage (10.7%) and miscellaneous manufactures (22.3%).

On the other hand, basic metals went down by 18.1 percent compared to an increase of 0.4 percent last month reportedly due to lack of raw materials and/or lesser demand. Other sectors that posted double-digit decreases were non-metallic mineral products (-30.5%), wearing apparel (-14.9%), furniture & fixtures (-21.0%) and tobacco (-14.5%).

 
Volume of Production

The volume of production index (VoPI) increased by 2.4 percent to 138.1 from 134.9 last year. Eight out of 16 sectors posted year-on-year increases led by food manufacturing which increased by 21.6 percent (See Annex 1B). Other sectors which largely contributed to the growth of the overall VoPI were petroleum products (7.2%), chemicals (4.1%), transport equipment (8.5%), basic metals (4.2%), textile (5.1%), miscellaneous manufactures (17.2%) and rubber products (4.4%).

 
Value of Net Sales

The value of net sales for May 1999 decreased by 1.3 percent compared to last year. Ten out of 16 sectors posted decreases led by petroleum products which declined by 12.0 percent (See Annex 2A). Other sectors that recorded double-digit decreases were basic metals (-23.4%), electrical machinery (-10.7%), textile(-14.7%), paper & paper products (-12.8%), non-metallic mineral products (-10.6%) and tobacco (-10.0%).

On the other hand, food manufacturing posted the highest increase of 20.3 percent. Other sectors that posted double-digit increases were chemicals (10.4%), transport equipment (11.5%), beverage (13.7%) and rubber products (18.5%).

 
Volume of Net Sales

The volume of net sales for May 1999 posted a decrease of 4.4 percent over last year. Decreases were seen in twelve sectors led by petroleum products, which declined by 17.6 percent (See Annex 2B). Double-digit decreases were observed in the following sectors: electrical machinery (-11.4%), textile (-17.4%), non-metallic mineral products (-22.9%), paper & paper products (-18.5%), wearing apparel (-11.6%) and furniture & fixtures (-24.6%).

 
Capacity Utilization

Responding establishments operating below 70% capacity were 38.4 percent in May 1999 compared to 39.2 percent a year ago. About 16.2 percent operated at full capacity (90%-100%) compared to 16.5 percent in May 1998.

The following sectors that had decreased use of existing capacity in May 1999 were beverage, tobacco, chemicals, non-metallic mineral products, basic metals and transport equipment. On the other hand, food, furniture & fixtures, paper & paper products, rubber products, electrical machinery and miscellaneous manufactures showed indications of increasing capacity utilization. Capacity utilization is defined as the ratio of output to the maximum rated capacity of the plant.

 
Response Rate

These results were based on the response of 419 sample establishments, which comprised 75.8 percent of the total number of establishments covered by the survey.