Manila, Aug 7 (IANS): The performance of manufacturing production in the Philippines sustained its growth in June 2024, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Wednesday.

Based on the preliminary results of a monthly survey, the PSA said the year-on-year value of production index (VaPI) and the volume of production index (VoPI) increased by 2.2 per cent and 2.5 per cent in June, respectively.

The PSA said the VaPI rose at a slowed annual rate of 2.2 per cent in June 2024 from a yearly increase of 2.3 per cent in May, bringing the average VaPI growth rate from January to June this year to 0.5 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported .

In June 2023, the VaPI yearly growth rose 2.7 per cent.

The PSA attributed the slower annual increase in the VaPI in June to the decline in the manufacture of basic metals, which decreased to 17.5 per cent during the month from an annual decrease of 3.1 per cent in May.

The manufacture of basic metals contributed 28.5 per cent to the downtrend of VaPI for the manufacturing section in June.

Other primary contributors to the slower increase of VaPI were the annual decrease in the manufacture of transport equipment, and the slower annual increase in the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products.

Meanwhile, the PSA said the VoPI registered an annual growth of 2.5 per cent in June 2024, slower than its annual increase of 3.2 per cent in May 2024. This brings the average growth rate of VoPI from January to June to 1.3 per cent.

In June 2023, VoPI recorded an annual increase of 2.1 per cent.

The PSA said the downtrend in the year-on-year growth rate of VoPI for manufacturing was primarily driven by the same top three industry divisions that contributed to the slower annual increase of VaPI for manufacturing in June.

These are the manufacture of basic metals, the manufacture of transport equipment, and the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products.