11-MONTHS TOTAL TRADE AT $60.162 BILLION

Total merchandise trade from January to November 1999 with the rest of the world went up by 10.2 percent to $60.162 billion from $54.570 billion last year. Merchandise exports valued at $32.089 billion posted a 19.0 percent increase from $26.973 billion in 1998 while total imports rose by 1.7 percent to $28.072 billion from $27.597 billion a year ago. The balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) stood at a surplus of $4.017 billion, a sharp reversal from the deficit of $624 million last year (See Fig. 2A).

For the month of November 1999 alone, total merchandise trade valued at $5.424 billion posted a 9.4 percent increase from $4.959 billion last year. Receipts from exports gained 18.8 percent to $3.073 billion from $2.586 billion. After five months of positive growth, payments for imports were 0.9 percent lower reaching $2.351 billion from $2.373 billion in 1998. The November 1999 BOT-G was in surplus of $721 million (See Fig. 2B).

 
ELECTRONICS AND COMPONENTS ACCOUNT FOR 24.5 PERCENT OF IMPORT BILL

Payments for Electronics and Components, still the top import with a 24.5 percent share, increased by 3.2 percent to $576.88 million from $558.90 million last year.

Payments for Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materialsaccounting for 8.8 percent of the total amounted to $207.03 million. This was 53.4 percent higher than $134.93 million last year.

Imports of Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery valued at $181.00 million dropped by 15.5 percent from $214.25 million last year. This group was third with a 7.7 percent share.

Fourth top import for the month consisted of Industrial Machinery and Equipment. Aggregate payments accounted for 6.5 percent of the total and went up by 3.7 percent to $152.31 million from $146.85 million last year.

Materials/Accessories Imported on Consignment Basis for the Manufacture of Other Electrical and Electronic Machinery and Equipment comprised the fifth top import group. Payments reached $103.19 million, decreasing by 43.6 percent from $183.03 million a year earlier and accounting for 4.4 percent of the total bill.

Office and EDP Machines, accounting for 4.2 percent of the total, was the sixth top import with a value of $98.37 million, declining by 22.7 percent from $127.28 million in 1998 (See Fig. 3).

Rounding up the list of the top imports for November 1999 wereTextile Yarn, Fabrics, Made-up Articles and Related Products,$88.43 million; Transport Equipment, $76.82 million; Iron and Steel, $71.00 million; and Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles,$69.05 million.

Aggregate payments for the top ten imports for the month amounted to $1.624 billion, or 69.1 percent of the total.

 
MINERAL FUELS & LUBRICANTS UP BY 53.4%

Accounting for 40.7 percent of the import bill, Capital Goods was the top purchase for the month with aggregate payments reaching $956.26 million, but 0.22 percent lower than $958.35 million a year ago.

Raw Materials and Intermediate Goods accounted for the second biggest slice of the import bill placed at 38.7 percent. Actual payments amounted to $910.65 million, down by 0.4 percent from $914.45 million last year.

Purchases of Consumer Goods valued at $217.29 million were also down by 12.3 percent from $247.89 million in 1998. This was due to lesser imports of food products, principally rice.

Expenditures for Mineral Fuel and Lubricant went up by 53.4 percent to $207.03 million while payments for Special Transactionsdropped by 48.9 percent to $60.20 million (See Fig. 4).

 
SHARES OF IMPORTS FROM UNITED STATES & JAPAN DOWN

Value of imports from the United States amounted to $461.81 million or 9.6 percent below $510.76 million a year ago. While regaining the top slot, the share of the United States to total imports was down to 19.6 percent from 21.5 percent a year ago. Exports to the United States on the other hand amounted to $834.11 million yielding a two-way trade figure of $1.296 billion and a BOT-G surplus of $372.30 million.

Japan was at second with an 18.4 percent share, from 19.3 percent last year. Sales were valued at $433.24 million against purchases amounting to $435.20 million. Total trade reached $868.44 million and there was a BOT-G surplus of $1.96 million.

The third biggest source of imports for the month was the Republic of Korea. Expenditures for imports amounted to $214.06 million while revenues from exports reached $110.81 million, resulting in a two-way trade value of $324.87 million and a $103.25 million BOT-G deficit.

Other major sources of imports for November 1999 were Singapore,$145.11 million; Taiwan, $133.50 million; Saudi Arabia, $123.15 million; Hongkong, $109.03 million; People�s Republic of China,$81.17 million; Malaysia, $78.27 million; and Indonesia, $70.21 million.

Payments for imports from the top ten sources amounted to $1.850 billion or 78.7 percent of the total (See Fig. 5).

 
UNCOLLECTED DOCUMENTS

As of presstime 68 out of 66,654 export documents and 44 out of87,934 import documents are still expected from the ports.

Source: National Statistics Office
            Manila, Philippines