JANUARY TO NOVEMBER BALANCE OF TRADE STANDS AT $5.432 BILLION

Total external trade in goods for January to November 2000 amounted to $63.732 billion which was 5.9 percent higher than $60.182 billion in 1999. Merchandise exports valued at $34.582 billion rose by 7.8 percent from $32.093 billion in 1999 while total imports went up by 3.8 percent to $29.150 billion from the year-ago mark of $28.089 billion. Balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) for the period stood at a surplus of $5.432 billion.

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

NOVEMBER IMPORTS GROW BY 13.5 PERCENT

For the month of November 2000, total merchandise trade valued at $5.985 billion posted a 10.3 percent increase from $5.427 billion a year ago. Receipts from exports went up by 7.9 percent to $3.317 billion from $3.075 billion November 1999, while payments for imports reached $2.668 billion or 13.5 percent higher than $2.352 billion a year ago. BOT-G stands at a surplus of $648 million.

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

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

ELECTRONICS COMPONENTS WENT DOWN BY 3.1 PERCENT

Still the top import with a 21.0 percent share, payments for Electronics Components amounting to $561.46 million dropped by 3.1 percent from $579.59 million in November 1999.

Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials with a 15.7 percent share of the total bill ranked second with payments amounting to $418.51 million which increased by 101.6 percent increase from $207.58 million last year.

Purchases for Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery followed with a 7.7 percent share. Import bills amounted to $205.83 million which was 14.4 percent higher than $179.86 million in 1999.

Fourth top import for the month consisted of Industrial Machinery and Equipment with a 5.7 percent share of the total. Payments went down by 0.8 percent to $151.16 million from $152.34 million the previous year.

Office and EDP Machines, accounting for 4.6 percent of the total, went up by 25.3 percent to $122.02 million from $97.38 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 4.5 percent of the total bill, payments reached $118.93 million which was 15.3 percent higher than $103.19 million a year earlier.

Rounding-up the list of the top imports for November 2000 were Textile Yarn, Fabrics, Made-up Articles and Related Products, $86.61 million; Transport Equipment, $86.51 million; Iron and Steel, $74.97 million; and, Power Generating and Specialized Machinery, $72.99 million.

Aggregate payment for the top ten imports for the month amounted to $1.899 billion, or 71.2 percent of the total.

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

MINERAL FUELS GROW BY 101.6 PERCENT

With a 38.3 percent share, Raw Materials and Intermediate Goods consisting of unprocessed raw materials and semi-processed raw materials reported purchases amounting to $1.022 billion which was 12.2 percent higher than $911.25 million last year.

Capital Goods, led by Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery, accounted for 36.1 percent of the total imports bill as payments increased by 0.8 percent to $963.28 million from the year-ago mark of $955.24 million.

Purchases of Mineral Fuel and Lubricant amounted to $418.51 million, which was 101.6 percent higher than $207.58 million in 1999.

Expenditures for Consumer Goods went down by 6.3 percent to $205.26 million while payments for Special Transactions went up by 1.1 percent to $59.20 million.

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

JAPAN CORNERS 19.0 PERCENT OF THE IMPORT BILL

Purchases from Japan with a 19.0 percent share of the total import bill, increased by 16.7 percent to $507.96 million from $435.21 million in 1999. Exports to Japan, on the other hand, amounted to $576.99 million yielding a two-way trade figure of $1.085 billion and a BOT-G surplus of $69.03 million in favor of the Philippines.

USA, the second biggest source of imports for the month with a 16.2 percent share, reporting sales of $433.22 million against purchases amounting to $885.32 million. Total trade reached $1.319 billion and the BOT-G surplus stood at $452.10 million.

The third biggest source of imports was Republic of Korea. Expenditures for imports amounted to $172.74 million while revenue from exports reached $99.26 million resulting to a two-way trade value of $272.00 million and a $73.49 million BOT-G deficit for the country.

Other major sources of imports for November 2000 were Taiwan, $168.48 million; Saudi Arabia, $166.91 million; Singapore, $155.70 million; Australia, $106.59 million; Hongkong, $101.84 million; Iran, $97.10 million; and, Malaysia, $92.04 million.

Payments for imports from the top ten sources amounted to $2.003 billion or 75.0 percent of the total.

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

UNCOLLECTED DOCUMENTS

As of press time 76 out of 58,610 export documents and 89 out of 52,298 import documents are still expected from the ports.

Source: National Statistics Office
            Manila, Philippines