The GSO said that the IIP in the second quarter also saw apositive increase of 9.87% year-on-year as many industrial firmshave resumed and gradually recovered their business activities.
During the six months, the processing and manufacturing industryposted the highest industrial output growth of 9.66%. It was followedby electricity generation and distribution (6.51%), electricity productionand distribution (6.1%) and the mining industry (2.28%).
Key industries that recorded high increases in H1include clothing, up 23%; electrical equipment (22%); pharmaceutical andmedical materials (17.5%); leather (13%); and electronics, computers andoptical products (11%).
On the contrary, several industries saw a decline inindustrial production, such as repair, maintenance and installation ofmachinery and equipment, down 11%; rubber and plastic products (8.5%); cokeand refined petroleum products (1.4%) and crude oil and natural gas (1.2%).
Several key industries recorded high growth in the period,including clothes (up 22%); electricity equipment (20.4%); leatherand leather products (13.5%); electronics, computers and opticaldevices (11.6%); and metal production (11.5%).
The GSO also named key industrial products with strong IIPincreases, including telephone components with 22%; beer (14%); ureafertiliser (13.5%); processed seafood and automobiles (12%) and clean coal(10%).
Some products decreased compared to the previous year, suchas televisions (18%); aquatic feed (7%); mobile phones (4.3%); NPKfertiliser (4%) and motorbikes (3.5%).
From January to June, the IIP rose in 61 out of 63 provincesand cities, with significant growth seen in several localities, whichexperienced a strong recovery in the manufacturing and processing industrythanks to the successful containment of COVID-19 such as Bac Giang(46%); Lai Chau (45%); Quang Nam (25%) and Ha Giang (24%).
According to the GSO, the consumption index of the processingand manufacturing industry in H1 rose 9.4% compared to last year'scorresponding period. In June, the index dropped 1% month-on-month andadvanced 9.4% year-on-year.
The average inventory rate of the processing and manufacturing industryin the six months was 78%, much lower than the 92% recorded in thesame period last year, the GSO noted.
As of June 1, the number of employees working in industrialenterprises rose 1.3% over the previous month and 5.8 % comparedto the same month last year.
The number of employees in State-owned enterprises decreased 4.8%year-on-year, while those in non-State firms slumped 0.3%, and thosein foreign-invested businesses increased by 7%.
Manufacturing sector expansion
According to S&P Global, the Vietnamese manufacturing sector endedthe first half of 2022 firmly in expansion mode as a lack of disruptionfrom the COVID-19 pandemic supported demand and production.
Firms were also increasingly successful in hiring additionalstaff, with the rate of job creation quickening to a three-and-a-half-yearhigh, S&P Global said in a report released last week.
Further marked increases were seen in both output andnew orders at the end of the second quarter, as relativemarket stability due to a lack of pandemic disruption enabled demandto grow, adding that rates of expansion were particularly pronounced inthe consumer goods category.
Rising new orders encouraged manufacturers toexpand workforce numbers again during June, extending thecurrent sequence of increasing staffing levels to three months.
“The Vietnamese manufacturing sector ends the first half of2022 in good health, with firms feeling that they've seen the back of thepandemic and can generate new business at a solid rate," AndrewHarker, Economics Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said.
The country's Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI)posted 54.0 in June, down slightly from 54.7 in May but still signalling asolid monthly improvement in the health of the sector, according to S&PGlobal./.