JANUARY TO JUNE TOTAL TRADE STANDS AT $32.589 BILLION

Total external trade in goods for January to June 2002 amounted to $32.589 billion or 4.3 percent higher than $31.243 billion in 2001. The bill for foreign-made merchandise went up by 4.4 percent to $15.921 billion from $15.255 billion. On the other hand, exports posted a 4.3 percent year-on-year increase to an aggregate dollar revenue of $16.668 billion from $15.988 billion a year ago. Balance of trade surplus for the Philippines amounted to $748 million or 2.0 percent higher than last year's $733 million.

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

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

JUNE IMPORTS INCREASED BY 9.4 PERCENT

Total merchandise trade for June 2002 increased by 10.8 percent to $5.747 billion from $5.187 billion during the same period a year earlier. Dollar-inflow generated by exports amounted to $2.894 billion, or a 12.3 percent increase from last year's $2.578 billion. Likewise, expenditures for imported goods went up by 9.4 percent to $2.853 billion from $2.609 billion The BOT-G surplus was recorded at $41 million, or a 232.0 percent reversal over last year's deficit placed at $31 million.

ELECTRONICS AND COMPONENTS ACCOUNT FOR 26.6 PERCENT OF IMPORT BILL

Accounting for 26.6 percent of the total aggregate import bill, payments for Electronics and Components amounted to $759.97 million or 41.4 percent higher than last year's $537.43 million. Compared to the previous month, dollar-outflow decreased by 2.5 percent from $779.52 million.

Purchases of Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials ranked second with a 9.8 percent share. Payments made reached $279.17 million for a 1.0 percent increase over last year's $276.34 million.

Office and EDP Machines, the third top import reported purchases worth $266.14 million, or a 13.1 percent increase from $235.34 million last year.

Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery accounting for 7.0 percent of the total bill, ranked fourth as payments reached $199.65 million, lower by 31.8 percent from last year's $292.78 million.

Expenditures for Industrial Machinery and Equipment, contributing 4.5 percent share to the aggregate bill, rose by 8.5 percent to $127.52 million from $117.49 million in June 2002.

Textile Yarn, Fabrics, Made-up Articles and Related Products, accounting for 3.8 percent of the total bill, was RP's sixth top import for the month with payments posted at $109.12 million or 13.9 percent higher than last year's $95.78 million.

Rounding up the list of the top imports for June 2002 were: Transport Equipment, $102.83 million; Iron and Steel, $87.61 million; Materials/Accessories Imported on Consignment Basis for the Manufacture of Other Electrical and Electronic Machinery and Equipment, $77.85 million; and Cereals and Cereal Preparations, $64.75 million.

Aggregate payment for the country's top ten imports for June 2002 amounted to $2.075 billion or 72.7 percent of the total bill.

Fig. 2. Philippine Top Imports in June 2001 & 2002

RAW MATERIALS AND INTERMEDIATE GOODS ACCOUNT FOR 40.1 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 40.1 percent of the aggregate bill as importation increased by 17.8 percent to $1.143 billion from $970.79 million.

Capital Goods comprising 38.7 percent of the aggregate bill rose by 1.9 percent year-on-year to $1.105 billion from $1.085 million. The group was led by Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery valued at $591.26 million or a 20.7 percent share of the total.

Purchases of Mineral Fuel & Lubricant valued at $279.17 million, registered a 1.0 percent increase from $276.34 million.

Expenditures for Consumer Goods went up by 18.9 percent to $227.70 million from $191.56 million, while Special Transactions increased by 13.7 percent to $97.57 million from $85.80 million.

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

JAPAN CORNERS 20.1 PERCENT OF JUNE IMPORT BILL

Purchases of Japanese made goods, accounting for 20.1 percent of the total import bill, increased by 7.1 percent to $574.25 million from $535.98 million a year earlier. Exports to Japan, on the other hand amounted to $443.74 million yielding a two-way trade figure of $1.018 billion and a trade deficit for RP placed at $130.50 million.

US, the country's second biggest source of imports with 18.6 percent share, reported shipments valued at $529.81 million against exports amounting to $751.13 million. Total trade reached $1.281 billion while trade surplus for the Philippines registered at $221.32 million.

Republic of Korea followed as RP's third biggest source of imports. With payments worth $235.12 million, imports from Korea increased by 55.9 percent from $150.78 million while revenue from RP's exports reached $98.71 million resulting to a total trade value of $333.82 million and a $136.41 million deficit for RP.

Other major sources of imports for the month were: ; Singapore, $215.09 million; Taiwan, $140.09 million; Hongkong, $129.23 million; Saudi Arabia, $111.24 million; Malaysia, $108.32 million; Thailand, $104.86 million; and People's Republic of China, $98.91 million.

Payment for imports from the top ten sources for the month amounted to $2.247 billion or 78.8 percent of the total.

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

UNCOLLECTED DOCUMENTS

As of press time 43 out of 59,077 export documents and 67 out of 65,208 import documents are still expected from the ports.

Source: National Statistics Office
              Manila, Philippines