JANUARY TO APRIL TOTAL TRADE STANDS AT $20.775 BILLION

Total external trade in goods for January to April 2001 amounted to $20.775 billion or 4.2 percent lower than $21.679 billion for the same period in 2000. The bill for foreign-made merchandise dropped by 4.2 percent to $9.965 billion from $10.404 billion. On the other hand, exports posted a 4.1 percent year-on-year decline reporting an aggregate dollar revenue of $10.810 billion down from $11.275 billion in 2000. The balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) surplus amounted to $845 million or 3.0 percent lower than $871 million last year.

APRIL IMPORTS ROSE BY 6.5 PERCENT

Total merchandise trade for April 2001 declined by 5.0 percent to $4.938 billion from $5.196 billion a year earlier. Dollar-inflow generated by exports amounted to $2.246 billion, or a 15.8 percent drop from $2.668 billion last year while expenditures for imported goods increased by 6.5 percent to $2.693 billion from $2.528 billion. The BOT-G deficit stood at $447 million.

ELECTRONICS AND COMPONENTS ACCOUNT FOR 22.7 PERCENT OF IMPORT BILL

Accounting for 22.7 percent of the aggregate import bill in April, payments for Electronics and Components amounted to $610.33 million or 6.7 percent higher than $572.17 million in April last year. Compared to the previous month, dollar-outflow stepped up by 35.7 percent from $449.71 million.

Purchases of Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materialsranked second with a 12.0 percent share. Payments made reached $324.06 million for a 6.6 percent increment over $304.02 million last year.

Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery, the third top import, reported purchases worth $270.82 million, or a 35.0 percent increase from $200.58 million a year ago.

Office and EDP Machines accounting for.6.1 percent of the total bill, ranked fourth as payments reached $164.84 million, up by 81.5 percent from $90.80 million last year.

Payments for Industrial Machinery and Equipment, combining for a 5.7 percent share of the aggregate bill, fell by 9.4 percent to $152.22 million from $167.92 million.

Materials/Accessories Imported on Consignment Basis for the Manufacture of Other Electrical and Electronic Machinery and Equipment, accounting for 4.6 percent of the total bill, was the sixth top import for the month with payments worth $123.89 million or 4.3 percent lower than $129.47 million last year.

Rounding up the list of the top imports for April 2001 were Textile Yarn, Fabrics, Made-up Articles and Related Products, $100.28 million; Iron and Steel, $76.49 million; Transport and Equipment,$70.79 million; and, Cereals and Cereal Preparations, $62.25 million.

Aggregate payment for the top ten imports for April 2001 amounted to $1.956 billion or 72.6 percent of the total bill.

Fig. 2. Philippine Top Imports in April: 2000 & 2001
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar) 

RAW MATERIALS AND INTERMEDIATE GOODS ACCOUNT FOR 40.2 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL IMPORT BILL

Payments for Raw Materials and Intermediate Goods consisting of unprocessed and semi-processed raw materials rose by 9.2 percent year-on-year to $1.081billion from $989.86 million. The groups share of the aggregate bill was placed at 40.2 percent.

Capital Goods led by Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery, accounted for 37.2 percent of the aggregate bill as importation stepped-up by 3.1 percent to $1.001 billion from $971.70 million in 2000.

Purchases of Mineral Fuel & Lubricant valued at $324.06 million, registered a 6.6 percent increase from $304.02 million.

Expenditures for Consumer Goods increased by 11.6 percent to $212.02 million from $189.96 million, while Special Transactionsrose by 1.5 percent to $74.0 million from $ 72.86 million.

Fig. 3. Philippine Imports by Major Type of Goods in April: 2000 & 2001
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar) 

JAPAN LEADS TOP SUPPLIERS WITH 21.6 PERCENT

Purchases of Japanese made goods, accounting for 21.6 percent of the total import bill, increased by 25.1 percent to $580.68 million from $464.30 million a year ago. Exports to Japan, on the other hand, amounted to $376.59 million yielding a two-way trade figure of $957.27 million and a trade deficit placed at $204.10 million.

US, the second biggest source of imports with a 17.3 percent share, reported shipments valued at $466.10 million against purchases amounting to $664.79 million. Total trade reached $1.131 billion while trade surplus stood at $198.69 million.

Republic of Korea followed as the third biggest source of imports. With payments worth $159.35 million, imports from the Koreadecreased by 29.4 percent from $225.66 million while revenue from exports reached $67.42 million resulting to a total trade value of $226.77 million and a $91.93 million deficit for RP.

Other major sources of imports for the month were Singapore, $154.16 million; Taiwan, $137.94 million; Islamic Republic of Iran,$107.63 million; Malaysia, $99.87 million; Hongkong, $95.01 million; Peoples Republic of China, $74.69 million; and Thailand,$73.07 million.

Payment for imports from the top ten sources for the month amounted to $1.948 billion or 72.4 percent of the total.

Fig. 4. Philippine Imports by Country in April: 2001

UNCOLLECTED DOCUMENTS

As of press time 113 out of 50,391 export documents and 105 out of54,778 import documents are still expected from the ports.

Source: National Statistics Office
            Manila, Philippines