Value Of Puerto Rico's Manufacturing Shipments Up 50%

Puerto Rico's manufacturers shipped nearly $47 billion worth of goods in 1997, representing a nearly 50% increase over the value of goods shipped five years earlier, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. During the same period, the annual payroll of Puerto Rico's manufacturing sector increased from $2.7 billion to $3.3 billion, while the number of manufacturing establishments declined by 166 to 2,092 locations in 1997. Chemicals and allied products industries, at $25.4 billion, accounted for more than half of 1997's value of shipments. Food and kindred products industries were a distant second, with $5.3 billion in shipments. In 1997 Puerto Rico's manufacturers spent $10.3 billion on materials.