JANUARY TO APRIL TOTAL TRADE STANDS AT $21.165 BILLION

Total external trade in goods for January to April 2002 amounted to $21.165 billion or 1.9 percent higher than $20.775 billion in 2001. The bill for foreign-made merchandise went up by 3.4 percent to $10.308 billion from $9.965 billion. Likewise, exports posted a 0.4 percent year-on-year increase to an aggregate dollar revenue of $10.857 billion from $10.810 billion a year earlier. Balance of trade surplus for the Philippines amounted to $549 million or 35.0 percent lower than last year's $845 million.

Fig. 1A.Philippine Trade Performance in January - April : 2001 & 2002
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

Fig. 1B. Philippine Trade Performance in April : 2001 & 2002
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

APRIL IMPORTS INCREASE BY 19.7 PERCENT

Total merchandise trade for April 2002 went up by 20.9 percent to $5.973 billion from $4.938 billion during the same period last year. Dollar-inflow generated by exports amounted to $2.749 billion, or a 22.4 percent increase from last year's $2.246 billion. On the other hand, expenditures for imported goods increased by 19.7 percent to $3.224 billion from $2.693 billion The BOT-G deficit was recorded at $475 million, or 6.3 percent higher over last year's $447 million

ELECTRONICS AND COMPONENTS ACCOUNT FOR 29.7 PERCENT OF IMPORT BILL

Accounting for 29.7 percent of the total aggregate import bill, payments for Electronics and Components amounted to $957.57 million or 51.9 percent higher than last year's $630.29 million. Compared to the previous month, dollar-outflow increased by 11.7 percent from $857.46 million.

Purchases of Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials ranked second with a 10.1 percent share. Payments made reached $324.66 million for a 0.1 percent decrease over last year's $324.85 million.

Office and EDP Machines, the third top import reported purchases worth $318.06 million, or an 86.0 percent increase from $170.95 million last year.

Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery accounting for 8.2 percent of the total bill, ranked fourth as payments reached $263.34 million, lower by 0.8 percent from last year's $265.52 million.

Expenditures for Industrial Machinery and Equipment, contributing 3.8 percent share to the aggregate bill, dropped by 20.0 percent to $122.19 million from $152.68 million in April 2002.

Materials/Accessories Imported on Consignment Basis for the Manufacture of Other Electrical and Electronic Machinery and Equipment accounting for 3.6 percent of the total bill, was RP's sixth top import for the month with payments worth $115.52 million or 0.1 percent higher than last year's $115.38 million.

Rounding up the list of the top imports for April 2002 were: Textile Yarn, Fabrics, Made-up Articles and Related Products, $113.78 million; Iron and Steel, $102.06 million; Transport Equipment, $90.09 million; and Plastics in Primary and Non-Primary Forms, $56.25 million.

Aggregate payment for the country's top ten imports for April 2002 amounted to $2.464 billion or 76.4 percent of the total bill.

Fig. 2. Philippine Top Imports in April 2001 & 2002
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

RAW MATERIALS AND INTERMEDIATE GOODS MAKE UP FOR 41.3 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL IMPORT BILL

Payments for Raw Materials and Intermediate Goods consisting of Unprocessed raw materials and Semi-processed raw materials accounted for 41.3 percent of the aggregate bill as importation went up by 21.5 percent to $1.331 billion from $1.095 billion.

Capital Goods comprising for 39.4 percent of the aggregate bill rose by 27.1 percent year-on-year to $1.270 billion from $999.88 million. The group was led by Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery valued at $719.82 million or a 22.3 percent share of the total.

Purchases of Mineral Fuel & Lubricant valued at $324.66 million, registered a 0.1 percent decrease from $324.85 million.

Expenditures for Consumer Goods dropped by 7.1 percent to $192.51 million from $207.15 million, while Special Transactions increased by 60.6 percent to $104.86 million from $65.31 million.

Fig. 3. Philippine Imports by Major Type of Goods in April: 2001 & 2002
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

JAPAN CORNERS 20.6 PERCENT OF APRIL IMPORT BILL

Purchases of Japanese made goods, accounting for 20.6 percent of the total import bill, increased by 14.3 percent to $665.04 million from $581.73 million a year ago. Exports to Japan, on the other hand amounted to $433.01 million yielding a two-way trade figure of $1.098 billion and a trade deficit for RP placed at $232.03 million.

US, the country's second biggest source of imports with a 19.7 percent share, reported shipments valued at $634.56 million against exports amounting to $675.93 million. Total trade reached $1.310 billion while trade surplus for the Philippines stood at $41.37 million.

Republic of Korea followed as RP's third biggest source of imports. With payments worth $327.10 million, imports from Korea went up by 106.4 percent from $158.50 million while revenue from RP's exports reached $94.02 million resulting to a total trade value of $421.12 million and a $233.08 million deficit for RP.

Other major sources of imports for the month were: ; Singapore, $205.46 million; Taiwan, $156.45 million; Hongkong, $140.75 million; People�s Republic of China, $100.81 million; Malaysia, $98.68 million; Saudi Arabia, $91.18 million; and Iran, $86.83 million.

Payment for imports from the top ten sources for the month amounted to $2.507 billion or 77.8 percent of the total.

Fig. 4. Philippine Imports by Country in April: 2002

UNCOLLECTED DOCUMENTS

As of press time 58 out of 61,081 export documents and 73 out of 66,961 import documents are still expected from the ports.

Source: National Statistics Office
              Manila, Philippines