Philippine industrial output remains weak in July

MANILA, Philippines - Industrial production in the Philippines continued to struggle in July amid weak global demand particularly from China, Moody’s Analytics said.

The unit of Moody’s Corp. said in its latest Asia Pacific Preview industrial production in the Philippines likely contracted 3.3 percent in July after shrinking by 3.6 percent last year.

“Base effects have exacerbated the slump from low oil prices and weakened global demand stemming from China. Export-facing petroleum products and basic metals are struggling the most,” Moody’s Analytics said.

It said factory output is expected to pick up with the expected uptick in food production after recovering from the series of typhoons.

“Domestic-facing industries such as food production should improve in coming months after earlier typhoon damage,” it added.

The Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the country’s manufacturing output contracted 3.6 percent in June.

Data showed the value of production index (VaPI) also declined by 7.3 percent.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is convinced there is a sustained positive outlook for the construction-related sectors.

Socioeconomic planning secretary and NEDA director general Arsenio Balisacan said the optimistic outlook could be attributed to the growth of tourism, continued implementation of infrastructure-related government projects, and robust information technology and business-process outsourcing.