Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Several power plants in Luzon will go on scheduled maintenance shutdown this year, with two plants closing down as early as this month, data submitted by generators to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) showed. From January to July this year, several power plants with a total capacity of 4,162.6 megawatts will go on scheduled shutdowns but the exact amount of power that will disappear from the grid will vary every month, depending on the specific schedule each month. Unit 1 of GN Power’s Mariveles coal plant in Bataan, with a capacity of 302 MW has scheduled a January shutdown, while Quezon Power Philippines’ 456.6-MW coal plant will also go on maintenance shutdown starting Jan. 17. In February, Unit 2 of the Mariveles coal plant, with a capacity of 302 MW, will also go on maintenance shutdown, according to a released schedule of plant outages. From March 15 to April, the two units of the Ilijan natural gas power plant of Kepco Philippines in Batangas with a total capacity of 1,200 MW will also go on maintenance shutdown. This will follow the scheduled maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya deep water gas to power project in the same period. The Malampaya gas field in offshore Palawan supplies natural gas to three power plants in Luzon – the 1,200-MW Ilijan plant, the 1,000-MW Sta. Rita and 500-MW San Lorenzo power plants, both owned by the Lopez group. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The Sta. Rita plant Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine manufacturing growth slowed in November from the same month in 2013, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The PSA’s Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries released yesterday showed manufacturing output in terms of the Volume of Production Index (VoPI) climbed at a slower pace of 8.1 percent in November 2014 compared with the 18.8 percent growth registered in the same month in 2013. Of the 20 major sectors, seven posted year-on-year declines in November such as electrical machinery; footwear and wearing apparel; tobacco products; machinery except electrical; rubber and plastic products; furniture and fixtures; and miscellaneous manufactures. The PSA said the Value of Production Index (VaPI) also recorded slower growth of 7.5 percent in November 2014 from 13.1 percent a year earlier. Sectors which registered decreases in production value were petroleum products; footwear and wearing apparel; machinery except electrical; electrical machinery; tobacco products; rubber and plastic products; miscellaneous manufactures; and furniture and fixtures. The Value of Net Sales Index (VaNSI) meanwhile contracted 0.3 percent in November 2014 compared with the 32 percent growth registered in November 2013. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 This was attributed to the shortfall in sales value observed in eight major sectors, with two-digit decreases observed in the following: footwear and wearing apparel (-23.1 percent), miscellaneous manufactures (-14.9 percent), and the heavy weighted petroleum products (-10.4 percent). The Volume of Net Sales Index (VoNSI) also accelerated at a slower rate of 0.3 percent in November 2014 compared Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is reviewing the suggested retail prices (SRPs) for selected basic goods such as milk, bread and noodles, citing lower cost of imported raw materials. Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo has instructed Trade Undersecretary for Consumer Protection Group Victorio Mario Dimagiba to review the retail prices of the selected basic goods. “SRPs for selected basic goods such as milk, bread and noodles should go down due to lower cost of imported raw materials of skimmed milk, powdered milk, and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas),” the department said. Even as prices of Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy Pandesal have been reduced by P0.50 and P0.25, respectively in November. Domingo said any additional price reduction would be welcomed by consumers. Prices of most basic necessities and prime commodities in the last quarter of 2014 reflected the declining cost of petroleum products such as diesel and gasoline for the same period. The DTI said the prices of most of the monitored retail prices of basic and prime goods from October to December 2014 are unchanged or are lower than the published SRPs by 0.06 percent up to 23.53 percent. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Prevailing monitored prices of 51 brands of basic and prime goods remained at SRP levels, while products whose prevailing prices are lower than the SRPs are: Milkmaid Full Cream Sweetened Condensed Milk 300 ml (millilitre) – lower by P2.85; Alaska Evaporated Milk 370 ml – lower by P1.20; Alpine Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Inc. (SEIPI) is keeping its seven to 11 percent growth projection for total electronic exports in 2014 amid positive performance of the sector in the January to November period. “With a month to go, 2014 full-year export growth is expected to be in the seven to 11 percent range.  At the end of the year, the industry is looking at total electronic exports between $23.3 billion to $24.2 billion,” the SEIPI said in an email sent to reporters. The group had an initial forecast of five percent growth for electronic shipments for full-year 2014 from $21.823 billion in 2013. In the third quarter of last year, the SEIPI hiked its industries growth forecast to five to eight percent and raised the projection anew in December to seven to 11 percent, citing strong global demand for electronic products. Latest available data showed that cumulative exports of electronic products grew by 7.95 percent to $23.50 billion as of end-November 2014 from $21.77 billion in the same period in 2013. This, as exports of almost all electronic products increased, except for automotive electronics that decreased by 58.8 percent. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The big gainers are EDP (electronic data processing)  at 30.2 percent, office equipment at 31.7 percent, consumer electronics at 15.9 percent, communication/radar at 41.5 percent, control and instrumentation at 130.2 percent and medical/industrial instrumentation at 92.1 percent. For the month of November alone, outbound shipments Read More …