Manufacturing sector dominates Davao City’s industrial landscape

By Greg G. Deligero
With the availability of quality manpower and raw materials, the manufacturing sector continues to dominate the industrial landscape in terms of local tax payments and business permit issuances.
Manufacturing is one of the four categories under industrial sector which refers to the basic economic activity concerned with the processing of raw materials. The others are sand and gravel concessionaries, producers and processors and mining products.
Data obtained from the city government’s business bureau showed that of the P118.59 million local revenues generated from industrial establishments last year, businesses engaged in manufacturing comprised 87.86 per cent followed by producers and processors (12 percent). The remaining minuscule belongs to mining products (.14 per cent).
Similarly, of the 2,475 total number of business permits issued last year, businesses engaged in manufacturing cornered 71.35 per cent followed by producers and processors (22.82 percent), quarry yard (2.78 percent) and sand and gravel concessionaries (3.05 percent).
There are 2,420 firms engaged in manufacturing in Davao City. Exactly 84.38 per cent are comprised by businesses engaged in baking with 692, fabrication with 552, production with 317, food processing with 266 and extraction with 215.
Others include businesses engaged in motor vehicle assembly, food processing, water purification, repacking, handicraft, carbonation, canning, feeds processing and tobacco fermentation.
Businesses engaged in fabrication topped in terms of capitalization with a total of P11.68 billion. Fabrication involves hollow block making, steel processing, metal crafting, garment making, cement processing and charcoal making.
It is followed by extraction with P1.32 billion and production with P1.14 billion. While it has the most number of establishments, baking is one of the lowest in terms of capitalization posting only a total of P220.71 million.
In terms of employment, fabrication is the city’s top employer with 17,725 followed by production with 7,305, baking with 4,542 and canning with 4, 166.