January to February total trade stands at $11.148 billion
Total external trade in goods for January to February 2003 amounted to $11.148 billion or 15.3 percent higher than $9.669 billion in 2002. The bill for foreign-made merchandise grew by 30.0 percent to $5.734 billion from $4.409 billion. Likewise, exports posted a year-on-year growth rate of 2.9 percent to an aggregate dollar revenue of $5.414 billion from $5.259 billion a year ago. Balance of trade deficit for the Philippines reached $319 million or 137.6 percent lower than last years $850 million.
Figure 1A. Philippine Trade Performance: January to February 2002 and 2003
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)
Figure 1B. Philippine Trade Performance: February 2002 and 2003
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)
Note: All figures are based on the final import statistics based on the Survey on Imported Raw Materials.
February imports went up by 21.4 percent
Total merchandise trade for February 2003 increased by 12.0 percent to $5.540 billion from $4.948 billion during the same period a year earlier. Dollar-inflow generated by exports amounted to $2.723 billion, or 3.6 percent higher than last years $2.628 billion. On the other hand, expenditures for imported goods went up by 21.4 percent to $2.817 billion from $2.320 billion. The BOT-G deficit registered $93 million, or 130.3 percent lower compared to last years $308 million.
Electronics and components account for 27.7 percent of import bill
Accounting for 27.7 percent of the total aggregate import bill, payments for electronics and components amounted to $780.40 million or 27.6 percent higher than last year's $611.60 million. Compared to the previous month, dollar-outflow increased by 3.4 percent from $754.58 million.
Purchases of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials ranked second with 13.0 percent share. Payments made placed at $364.69 million, registered a 97.2 percent increase over the previous level which stood at $184.88 million.
Office and EDP Machines, the third top import reported purchases worth $259.15 million, or a 26.9 percent increase from $204.29 million last year.
Telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery accounting for 7.5 percent of the total import bill, ranked fourth as payments amounted to $212.46 million, up by 15.3 percent from last year's $184.29 million.
Expenditures for transport equipment, contributing 4.1 percent share to the aggregate bill, increased by 9.0 percent to $116.50 million from $106.86 million in February 2002.
Industrial machinery and equipment, contributing 3.9 percent to the total bill, was RPs sixth top import for the month with payments posted at $110.85 million or 19.8 percent higher than last years $92.54 million.
Rounding up the list of the top imports for February 2003 were: iron and steel, $106.57 million; materials/accessories imported on consignment basis for the manufacture of other electrical and electronic machinery and equipment, $76.24 million; textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles and related products, $61.78 million; and organic and inorganic chemicals, $58.08 million.
Aggregate payment for the countrys top ten imports for February 2003 amounted to $2.147 billion or 76.2 percent of the total bill.
Figure 2. Philippine Top Imports: February 2002 and 2003
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)
Capital goods account for 40.9 percent of the total import bill
Capital goods comprising 40.9 percent of the aggregate bill went up by 32.0 percent year-on-year to $1.151 billion from $872.53 million. The group was led by telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery valued at $633.25 million or a 22.5 percent share of the total.
Payments for raw materials and intermediate goods consisting of unprocessed raw materials and semiprocessed raw materials accounted for 37.0 percent of the aggregate bill as importation grew by 2.0 percent to $1.043 billion from last years figure at $1.023 billion.
Expenditures for mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials increased by 97.2 percent to $364.69 million from $184.88 million during the same period last year.
Purchases of consumer goods valued at $159.10 million, posted an 5.6 percent drop from $168.44 million in February 2002, while special transactions rose by 37.9 percent to $97.90 million from $70.99 million.
Figure 3. Philippine Imports by Major Type of Goods: February 2002 and 2003
Japan corners 21.0 percent of February import bill
Imports from Japan accounting for 21.0 percent of the total import bill, grew by 23.4 percent to $590.12 million from $478.23 million a year earlier. On the other hand, exports to Japan, amounted to $413.80 million yielding a two-way trade value of $1.004 billion and a trade deficit for RP placed at $176.33 million.
US, the countrys second biggest source of imports with a 20.4 percent share, reported shipments valued at $573.22 million against exports amounting to $588.68 million. Total trade amounted to $1.162 billion while the trade surplus in favor of the Philippines was placed at $15.46 million.
Singapore, followed as RPs third biggest source of imports. With payments worth $191.74 million, imports from Singapore increased by 20.3 percent from $159.37 million while revenue from RPs exports reached $164.35 million resulting to a total trade value of $356.09 million and a $27.39 million deficit for RP.
Other major sources of imports for the month of February were: Republic of Korea, $188.44 million; Taiwan, $125.48 million; Saudi Arabia, $122.51 million; Malaysia, $113.14 million; Thailand, $99.96 million; Hong Kong, $98.67 million; and Peoples Republic of China, $97.87 million.
Payments for imports from the top ten sources for the month amounted to $2.201 billion or 78.2 percent of the total.
Figure 4. Philippine Imports by Country: February 2003
As of press time 52 out of 57,334 export documents and 71 out of 60,998 import documents are still expected from the ports.
Source: Philippines National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines
