Factory output picks up in Feb – Moody’s

MANILA, Philippines - Manufacturing output is seen to have picked up in February after slowing down in January, research firm Moody’s Analytics said.

“Growth in industrial production slowed sharply in January. We suspect some Lunar New Year distortion in the data, in which case industrial production will have rebounded in February,” Moody’s said.

The manufacturing sector is one of the casualties of the Chinese New Year as Chinese factories usually close down days before the celebration and opens only a couple of days after the festivities.

Moody’s expects manufacturing output to have risen to 21 percent in February from 7.2 percent in January. However, this is still slower than the revised 25.2-percent expansion recorded in December.

Official manufacturing output data would be released by the government on Thursday, April 10.

The country saw its manufacturing output accelerate through the second half of last year before slowing down in January. 

Despite an expected rebound in numbers in February, Moody’s said industrial production should start slowing down during the second semester of this year.

“That said, we still expect output to slow throughout the year from the strong but unsustainable pace seen across the second half of 2013,” Moody’s said.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Volume of Production Index of 7.2 percent recorded in January was primarily driven by furniture and fixtures.