TOTAL TRADE GROWS BY 7.8 PERCENT
Total trade in goods for January to April 2000 amounted to $21.679 billion which was 7.8 percent higher than $20.110 billion last year. Imports for the first four months of the year rose by 5.0 percent to $10.404 billion from $9.912 billion. On the other hand, exports increased by 10.6 percent to $11.275 billion from $10.198 billion last year. The balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) amounted to a surplus of $871 million which was a 204.5 percent jump from $286 million in 1999.
Fig. 1. Philippine Foreign Trade by Month: 2000
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)
Merchandise trade for the month of April 2000 alone grew by 5.1 percent to $5.196 billion from $4.945 billion a year earlier. Earnings from exports amounted to $2.668 billion which was 13.7 percent increase from $2.346 billion last year, while expenditures for imported goods declined by 2.7 percent to $2.528 billion from $2.599 billion a year ago. The BOT-G stood at a surplus of $140 million.
Fig. 2A. Philippine Trade Performance in Jan April : 1999 & 2000
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)
Fig. 2B. Philippine Trade Performance in April : 1999 & 2000
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)
ELECTRONICS AND COMPONENTS ACCOUNT FOR 22.6 PERCENT OF IMPORT BILL
Accounting for 22.6 percent of the aggregate import bill, payments for Electronics and Components amounted to $571.71 million which was 9.0 percent lower than $628.56 million in 1999.
Purchases of Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials ranked second with a 12.0 percent share. Payments reached $304.03 million for an 82.2 percent increase over $166.89 million a year ago.
Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery was the third top import with payments of $200.61 million for a 4.2 percent growth from $192.44 million last year.
Industrial Machinery and Equipment, accounting for 6.7 percent of the total bill, ranked fourth with $168.17 million which was a 12.3 percent increase from $149.79 million last year.
Payments for Materials/Accessories Imported on Consignment Basis for the Manufacture of Other Electrical and Electronic Machinery and Equipment combined for a 5.1 percent share of the aggregate bill. However, this dipped by 17.2 percent to $128.90 million from $155.70 million in 1999.
Transport Equipment, accounting for 4.1 percent of the total, was sixth top import for the month with a combined value of $104.00 million or 41.2 percent higher than $73.64 million a year earlier.
Rounding up the list of the top imports for April 2000 were Textile Yarn, Fabrics, Made-up Articles and Related Products, $96.01 million; Office and EDP Machines, $90.47 million; Iron and Steel, $86.79 million; and Cereals and Cereal Preparations, $64.88 million.
Aggregate payment for the top ten imports for April 2000 amounted to $1.816 billion or 71.8 percent of the total bill.
Fig. 3. Philippine Top Imports in April : 1999 & 2000
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)
RAW MATERIALS AND INTERMEDIATE GOODS ACCOUNT FOR 39.1 PERCENT
Payments for Raw Materials and Intermediate Goods consisting of unprocessed raw materials and semi-processed raw materials fell by 13.2 percent year-on-year to $988.92 million from $1.139 billion. The group share of the aggregate bill was 39.1 percent.
Capital Goods led by Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery accounted for 38.4 percent of the aggregate bill as importation grew by 3.1 percent to $971.40 million from $942.04 million.
Purchases of Mineral Fuel & Lubricant valued at $304.03 million registered an 82.2 percent increase from $166.89 million last year.
Expenditures for the two other commodity groups, Consumer Goods and Special Transactions, amounted to $190.34 million and $73.31 million, respectively, in April 2000.
Fig. 4. Philippine Imports by Major Type of Goods in April : 1999 & 2000
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)
UNITED STATES STILL TOP SOURCE OF IMPORTS FOR APRIL
Purchases of US-made goods, accounting for 19.8 percent of the total, fell by 7.1 percent to $501.81 million from $540.32 million a year ago. Exports to the US on the other hand amounted to $768.82 million yielding a two-way trade figure of $1.271 billion and a trade surplus at $267.01 million.
Japan, the second biggest source of imports with a 18.3 percent share, reported shipments valued at $461.67 million against purchases amounting to $439.06 million. Total trade reached $900.73 million while a BOT-G deficit stood at $22.61 million.
Republic of Korea followed as the third biggest source of imports. Imports valued at $225.22 million increased by 10.3 percent from $204.25 million last year while revenue from exports reached $82.68 million resulting to a total trade value of $307.90 million and a $142.55 million BOT-G deficit.
Other major sources of imports for the month were Singapore, $167.64 million; United Arab Emirates, $143.11 million; Taiwan, $137.21; Malaysia, $89.60 million; Hongkong, $86.04 million; Thailand, $72.79 million; and People's Republic of China, $71.09 million.
Payments for imports from the top ten sources for the month amounted to $1.956 billion or 77.4 percent of the total.
Fig. 5. Philippine Imports by Country in April : 2000
UNCOLLECTED DOCUMENTS
As of press time 78 out of 54,983 export documents and 93 out of 53,392 import documents are still expected from the ports.
Source: National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines
