JANUARY TO OCTOBER TOTAL TRADE STANDS AT $52.244 BILLION

Total external trade in goods for January to October 2001 amounted to $52.244 billion or 9.5 percent lower than $57.747 billion in 2000. Bill for foreign-made merchandise declined by 4.2 percent to $25.369 billion from $26.482 billion. On the other hand, exports posted a 14.0 percent year-on-year decrease reporting an aggregate dollar revenue of $26.875 billion down from $31.265 billion a year earlier. Balance of trade surplus for the Philippines amounted to $1.506 billion or 68.5 percent lower than last years $4.784 billion.

Fig. 1A.Philippine Trade Performance in January  October : 2000 & 2001
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

Fig. 1B. Philippine Trade Performance in October : 2000 & 2001
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

OCTOBER IMPORTS DECREASE BY 16.9 PERCENT

Total merchandise trade for October 2001, declined by 15.0 percent to $5.311 billion from $6.252 billion during the same period last year. Dollar-inflow generated by exports amounted to $2.941 billion, or a 13.5 percent decrease from last years $3.398 billion, while expenditures for imported goods declined by 16.9 percent to $2.371 billion from $2.854 billion. The BOT-G surplus stood at $570 million.

ELECTRONICS AND COMPONENTS ACCOUNT FOR 15.3 PERCENT OF IMPORT BILL

Accounting for 15.3 percent of the total aggregate import bill, payments for Electronics and Components amounted to $363.82 million or 37.1 percent lower than last year's $578.25 million. Compared to the previous month, dollar-outflow decreased by 22.4 percent from $468.82 million.

Purchases of Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery ranked second with a 11.4 percent share. Payments made reached $269.60 million for a 1.28 percent increase over last years $266.18 million.

Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials, the third top import reported purchases worth $266.09 million, or a 33.9 percent decrease from $402.55 million a year earlier.

Office and EDP Machines accounting for 8.6 percent of the total bill, ranked fourth as payments reached $204.55 million, higher by 8.4 percent from last year's $188.77 million.

Expenditures for Industrial Machinery and Equipment, combined for a 4.9 percent share of the aggregate bill, which declined by 26.3 percent to $116.56 million from $158.15 million.

Transport Equipment accounting for 4.1percent of the total bill, was RPs sixth top import for the month with payments worth $96.15 million or 5.3 percent higher than last years $91.31 million .

Rounding up the list of the top imports for October 2001 were:Materials/Accessories Imported on Consignment Basis for the Manufacture of Other Electrical and Electronic Machinery and Equipment, $92.54 million; Textile Yarn, Fabrics, Made-up Articles and Related Products, $86.82 million; Iron and Steel, $72.05 million; Plastics in Primary and Non-Primary Forms, $52.40 million.

Aggregate payment for the countrys top ten imports for October 2001 amounted to $1.621 billion or 68.4 percent of the total bill.

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

CAPITAL GOODS ACCOUNT FOR 38.7 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL IMPORT BILL

Capital Goods accounting for 38.7 percent of the aggregate bill declined by 10.6 percent to $916.74 million from $1.025 billion a year ago. The group was led by Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery valued at $479.85 million or a 20.2 percent share of the total.

Payments for Raw Materials and Intermediate Goods consisting of unprocessed raw materials and semi-processed raw materials accounted for 38.4 percent of the aggregate bill even as importation went down by 19.2 percent to $910.39 million from $1.127 billion.

Purchases of Mineral Fuel & Lubricant valued at $266.09 million, registered a 33.9 percent decrease from $402.55 million.

Expenditures for Consumer Goods declined by 12.2 percent to $213.33 million from $242.95 million, while Special Transactionswent up by 14.7 percent to $64.18 million from $55.95 million.

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

JAPAN CORNERS 21.5 PERCENT OF OCTOBER IMPORT BILL

Purchases of Japanese made goods, accounting for 21.5 percent of the total import bill, decreased by 4.8 percent to $510.49 million from $536.53 million a year earlier. Exports to Japan, on the other hand amounted to $420.96 million yielding a two-way trade figure of $931.45 million and a trade deficit for RP placed at $89.53 million.

US, the countrys second biggest source of imports with a 14.8 percent share, reported shipments valued at $351.64 million against exports amounting to $799.59 million. Total trade reached $1.151 billion while trade surplus for the Philippines stood at $447.95 million.

Republic of Korea followed as RPs third biggest source of imports. With payments worth $175.92 million, imports from Korea went up by 8.7 percent from $161.78 million while revenue from RPs exports reached $107.38 million resulting to a total trade value of $283.30 million and a $68.54 million deficit for RP.

Other major sources of imports for the month were: Singapore, $152.42 million; Taiwan, $122.69 million; Hongkong, $102.04 million;People's Republic of China, $78.14 million; Thailand, $68.96 million; Malaysia, $63.75 million; and Indonesia, $61.55 million.

Payment for imports from the top ten sources for the month amounted to $1.688 billion or 71.2 percent of the total.

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

UNCOLLECTED DOCUMENTS

As of press time 57 out of 59,652 export documents and 84 out of57,475 import documents are still expected from the ports.

Source: National Statistics Office
            Manila, Philippines