JANUARY TO JULY TOTAL TRADE STANDS AT $36.497 BILLION

Total external trade in goods for January to July 2001 amounted to $36.497 billion or 6.1 percent lower than $38.848 billion in 2000. Bills for foreign-made merchandise decreased by 0.5 percent to $17.915 billion from $18.013 billion. On the other hand, exports posted a 10.8 percent year-on-year decrease reporting an aggregate dollar revenue of $18.582 billion down from $20.835 billion in 2000. Balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) surplus amounted to $667.0 million or 76.4 percent lower than $2.823 billion last year.

JULY IMPORTS DECREASE BY 0.6 PERCENT

Total merchandise trade for July 2001 declined by 10.9 percent to $5.255 billion from $5.896 billion a year earlier. Dollar-inflow generated by exports amounted to $2.594 billion, or a 19.4 percent decrease from $3.219 billion last year, while expenditures for imported goods declined by 0.6 percent to $2.660 billion from $2.676 billion. The BOT-G deficit stood at $66 million.

ELECTRONICS COMPONENTS ACCOUNT FOR 17.7 PERCENT OF IMPORT BILL

Accounting for 17.7 percent of the aggregate import bill, payments forElectronics Components amounted to $471.15 million or 1.42 percent higher than $464.57 million last year. Compared to the previous month, dollar-outflow decreased by 12.3 percent from $537.42 million.

Purchases of Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materialsranked second with a 12.6 percent share. Payments made reached $335.85 million for a 16.4 percent lower over $401.81 million last year.

Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery, the third top import reported purchases worth $246.79 million, or a 12.3 percent drop from $281.43 million a year earlier.

Office and EDP Machines accounting for 7.2 percent of the total bill, ranked fourth as payments reached $191.70 million, up by 38.4 percent from $138.48 million last year.

Payments for Industrial Machinery and Equipment combined for a 5.2 percent share of the aggregate bill which fell by 16.9 percent to $138.77 million from $166.93 million.

Transport Equipment, accounting for 3.9 percent of the total bill, was the sixth top import for the month with payments worth $103.53 million or 10.4 percent higher than $93.77 million last year.

Rounding up the list of the top imports for July 2001 were Textile Yarn, Fabrics, Made-up Articles and Related Products, $102.93 million; Materials/Accessories Imported on Consignment Basis for the Manufacture of Other Electrical and Electronic Machinery and Equipment, $88.82 million; Iron and Steel, $75.52 million;Cereals and Cereal Preparations, $58.05 million.

Aggregate payment for the top ten imports for July 2001 amounted to $1.813 billion or 68.2 percent of the total bill.

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

CAPITAL GOODS ACCOUNT FOR 36.1 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL IMPORT BILL

Capital Goods accounting for 36.1 percent of the aggregate bill decreased by 1.8 percent year-on-year to $959.521 million from $977.195 million. The group was led by Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery valued at $483.22 million or an 18.2 percent share of the total.

Payments for Raw Materials and Intermediate Goods consisting of unprocessed and semi-processed raw materials accounted for 39.5 percent of the aggregate bill as importation went up by 2.9 percent to $1.051 billion from $1.021 billion.

Purchases of Mineral Fuel & Lubricant valued at $335.85 million registered a 16.4 percent decrease from $401.81 million.

Expenditures for Consumer Goods increased by 7.3 percent to $236.91 million from $220.81 million, while Special Transactions rose by 38.8 percent to $76.94 million from $55.43 million.

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

JAPAN REGISTER 20.0 PERCENT OF JULY IM

PORT BILL

Purchases of Japanese made goods, accounting for 20.0 percent of the total import bill, increased by 3.0 percent to $530.97 million from $515.27 million a year ago. Exports to Japan, on the other hand, amounted to $430.21 million yielding a two-way trade figure of $961.18 million and a trade deficit placed at $100.76 million.

US, the second biggest source of imports with a 16.4 percent share, reported shipments valued at $435.80 million against purchases amounting to $775.84 million. Total trade reached $1.212 billion while trade surplus stood at $340.04 million.

Republic of Korea followed as the third biggest source of imports. With payments worth $190.57 million, imports from Korea increased by 16.0 percent from $164.25 million while revenue from exports reached $77.78 million resulting to a total trade value of $268.35 million and a $112.79 million deficit.

Other major sources of imports for the month were Singapore, $160.53 million; Taiwan, $149.04 million; Hongkong, $111.73 million;Thailand, $92.14 million; Saudi Arabia, $87.37 million; People's Republic of China, $85.93 million; and United Arab Emirates,$82.54 million.

Payment for imports from the top ten sources for the month amounted to $1.927 billion or 72.4 percent of the total.

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

UNCOLLECTED DOCUMENTS

As of press time 66 out of 59,792 export documents and 102 out of59,186 import documents are still expected from the ports.

Source: National Statistics Office
            Manila, Philippines
 
Page Last Updated: September 19, 2001