Philippines Leather Industry Output Increased By 49.9% In March 2008

According to Philippine media reports, the Philippine National Bureau of statistics, due to low export and domestic demand, manufacturing output in March decreased by 5.9% over the same period last year.

With the growth of 6.3% in February, the decline in March has increased the manufacturing output by only 0.5 percentage points in the first quarter of this year.

Compared with last year, the biggest decline in output was non electric machinery 44.2%, furniture 29%, tobacco products 21.2%, textile 18.2%, food 12.6%, printing and printing 18.2%, oil 12.5%, metal products 11.8%, electric machinery 11.1%.

The growth is leather 49.9%, footwear and clothing 44.8%, beverage 2.8%, wood and wood products 8.2%.

In March, the output value decreased by 5%, the producer price index was 0.9%, and the average productivity utilization rate was 80.2%.

Because the manufacturing sector in March is not ideal, it is expected to affect the overall economy of the Philippines. The GDP growth in the first quarter is estimated to be between 5.2% and 6.2%.