2000 BALANCE OF TRADE STANDS AT $6.691 BILLION

Total external trade in goods for January to December 2000 amounted to $69.464 billion which was 5.6 percent higher than $65.779 billion in 1999. Merchandise exports valued at $38.078 billion rose by 8.7 percent from $35.037 billion in 1999 while total import went up by 2.1 percent to $31.387 billion from $30.742 billion. Balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) for the period stood at a surplus of $6.691 billion.

Fig. 1. Philippine Foreign Trade by Month: 2000
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

DECEMBER IMPORTS FALL BY 15.7 PERCENT

For the month of December, total merchandise trade valued at $5.733 billion posted a 2.4 percent increase from $5.597 billion the previous year. Receipts from exports went up by 18.8 percent to $3.496 billion from $2.944 billion a year earlier, while payments for imports reached $2.237 billion which ws 15.7 percent lower than $2.653 billion in 1999. Balance of trade in goods stood at a surplus of $1.259 billion.

Fig. 2A. Philippine Trade Performance in January  December : 2000 & 1999
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

Fig. 2B. Philippine Trade Performance in December : 2000 & 1999
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

ELECTRONICS COMPONENTS DOWN BY 42.1 PERCENT

Still the top import with a 18.6 percent share, payments for Electronics Components amounting to $417.09 million dropped by 42.1 percent from $720.84 million in December 1999.

Purchases for Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery ranked second with an 11.3 percent share. Import bills amounted to $253.49 million or 29.5 percent higher than $195.75 million in December 1999.

Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials with a 10.8 percent share of the total bill had payments worth $240.62 million representing a 27.6 percent decrease from $332.23 million a year earlier.

Fourth top import for the month consisted of Industrial Machinery and Equipment, with a 6.3 percent share of the total. Payments went down by 7.4 percent to $140.5 million from $151.69 million the previous year.

Office and EDP Machines accounting for 6.2 percent of the total went up by 12.7 percent to $138.6 million from $123 million in 1999.

Materials/Accessories Imported on Consignment Basis for the Manufacture of Other Electrical and Electronic Machinery and Equipment comprised the sixth top import group. Accounting for 5.1 percent of the total bill, payments reached $114.21 million which was 14.9 percent lower than $134.17 million a year earlier.

Rounding up the list of the top imports for December 2000 were Textile Yarn, Fabrics, Made-up Articles and Related Products, $86.56 million; Transport Equipment, $69.90 million; Iron and Steel, $55.60 million; and Organic and Inorganic Chemicals, $53.26 million.

Aggregate payment for the top ten imports for the month amounted to $1.570 billion, or 70.2 percent of the total.

Fig. 3. Philippine Top Imports in December: 2000 & 1999
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

MINERAL FUELS FALL BY 27.6 PERCENT

Capital Goods led by Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery, accounted for 41.0 percent of the import bill but payments dropped 11.5 percent to $917.34 million from $1.037 billion in December 1999.

With a 37.0 percent share, Raw Materials and Intermediate Goods consisting of unprocessed and semi-processed raw materials reported purchases amounting to $827.92 million which was 19.1 percent lower than $1.024 billion a year earlier.

Purchases of Mineral Fuel and Lubricant amounted to $240.62 million, which was 27.6 percent lower than $332.23 million in 1999.

Expenditures for Consumer Goods went down by 0.4 percent to $192.25 million while payments for Special Transactions declined by 13.4 percent to $58.66 million.

Fig. 4. Philippine Imports by Major Type of Goods in December: 2000 & 1999
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

JAPAN CORNERS 21.3 PERCENT OF THE IMPORT BILL

Purchases from Japan with a 21.3 percent share of the total import bill, decreased by 5.8 percent to $476.49 million from $505.83 million last year. Exports to Japan, on the other hand, amounted to $552.80 million yielding a two-way trade figure of $1.029 billion and a BOT-G surplus of $76.31 million.

USA, the second biggest source of imports for the month with a 13.6 percent share, reported sales of $303.80 million against purchases amounting to $1.202 billion. Total trade reached $1.506 billion and the BOT-G surplus stood at $898.36 million.

The third biggest source of imports was Republic of Korea. Expenditures for imports amounted to $162.78 million while revenue from exports reached $104.57 million resulting in a two-way trade value of $267.35 million and a $58.21 million BOT-G deficit.

Other major sources of imports for December 2000 were Singapore, $152.49 million; Taiwan, $146.41 million; Hongkong, $91.11 million; Iran, $87.57 million; Australia, $77.82 million; Malaysia, $67.00 million; and Thailand, $62.21 million.

Payments for imports from the top ten sources amounted to $1.628 billion or 72.8 percent of the total.

Fig. 5. Philippine Imports by Country in December: 2000

UNCOLLECTED DOCUMENTS

As of press time 23 out of 72,174 export documents and 41 out of 72,659 import documents are still expected from the ports.

Source: National Statistics Office
            Manila, Philippines