RP factory output drops 10.3% in Feb

The Philippines' factory output dropped 10.3 percent in February, dragged by slower production in the petroleum and beverages sectors, the National Statistics Office said Wednesday. In its latest Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries, the NSO said the country’s volume of production index's fall was also due to reduced production in textiles, machinery excluding electrical, tobacco, footwear and wearing apparel, petroleum products, beverages and rubber products. The February factory output was the lowest since November 2006, when the index sagged 15.9 percent. On a month-on-month basis, factory production contracted 10.2 percent. The NSO said only 9.9 percent of the 100 manufacturing firms surveyed operated at full capacity in January. Average capacity utilization of these factories stood at 79.8 percent. More than half, or 58.2 percent of the establishments operated at 70 percent to 89 percent capacity and 31.6 percent of the establishments operated below 70 percent capacity. For its part, the Value of Production Index for the manufacturing industry also slipped, falling 8.3 percent in February.-GMANews.TV