WRAPUP 2-Chilean manufacturing beats forecasts on heady wine output

(Reuters) - Chile's manufacturing production beat forecasts in July, boosted by a strong rise in wine output, with bubbly domestic spending also lending resilience to the South American economy.

The upbeat reading comes after Chile's central bank considered a cut in interest rates this month to counter an uncertain economic outlook on signs of a slowdown in China and withdrawal of monetary stimulus in the United States.

Manufacturing production rose 4.7 percent year-on-year, according to economic figures released Thursday by the National Statistics Institute. That significantly outpaced an expected rise of 1.7 percent forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts.

The strong July numbers followed a surprisingly weak 2.7 percent drop in June's manufacturing output compared with a year earlier.

Economists expected some bounce back in July due to statistical quirks - the base of comparison was low for July 2012, which had two fewer working days than July this year.

An 8.6 percent increase in food and drink production helped lead the overall figure much higher. This was principally due to growth in wine output, the statistics agency said.

Known for its Carmenere grape variety, as well as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Chile is the world's No.7 wine producer. It saw an 85 percent jump in export volumes in 2012 compared with 2011 as Chilean wine began to take off in emerging markets such as Asia.