JANUARY TO SEPTEMBER BALANCE OF TRADE STANDS AT $4.240 BILLION
Total external trade in goods for January to September 2000 amounted to $51.494 billion which was 5.8 percent higher than $48.683 billion in 1999. Merchandise exports valued at $27.867 billion rose by 9.0 percent from $25.558 billion last year while total imports went up by 2.2 percent to $23.627 billion from $23.125 billion a year ago. Balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) for the period stood at a surplus of $4.240 billion.
Fig. 1. Philippine Foreign Trade by Month: 2000
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)
SEPTEMBER IMPORTS GROW BY 16.3 PERCENT
For the month of September, total merchandise trade valued at $6.474 billion increased by 3.6 percent from $6.249 billion last year. Receipts from exports went down by 5.2 percent to $3.502 billion from $3.693 billion last year, while payments for imports rose by 16.3 percent to $2.972 billion from $2.555 billion in 1999. This double-digit growth in imports follows five consecutive months of year-on-year declines and is the highest posted so far this year. Balance of trade in goods was at a surplus of $530.0 million.
Fig. 2A. Philippine Trade Performance in January September : 2000 & 1999
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)
Fig. 2B. Philippine Trade Performance in September : 2000 & 1999
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)
ELECTRONICS COMPONENTS UP BY 2.5 PERCENT
Still the top import with a 21.6 percent share, payments for Electronics Components amounting to $641.61 million rose by 2.5 percent from $625.66 million last year.
Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials with a 12.8 percent of the total bill ranked second with payments of $381.65 million which increased by 81.9 percent from $209.85 million last year.
Purchases for Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery followed with an 8.7 percent share. Import bills amounted to $259.18 million which was 20.4 percent higher than $215.35 million in 1999.
The fourth top import consisted of Industrial Machinery and Equipment with a 5.8 percent share of the total. Payments went up by 17.5 percent to $173.41 million from $147.55 million the previous year.
Office and EDP Machines, accounting for 5.2 percent of the total, went up by 21.5 percent to $154.57 million from $127.19 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 4.6 percent of the total bill, payments reached $137.53 million which was 11.6 percent higher than $123.28 million a year earlier.
Rounding up the list of the top imports for September 2000 were Transport Equipment, $98.12 million; Textile Yarn, Fabrics, Made-up Articles and Related Products, $88.90 million; Power Generating and Specialized Machinery, $74.37 million; and Iron and Steel, $68.35 million.
Aggregate payment for the top ten imports for the month amounted to $2.078 billion, or 69.9 percent of the total.
Fig. 3. Philippine Top Imports in September: 2000 & 1999
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)
MINERAL FUELS GROW BY 81.9 PERCENT
Capital Goods, led by power generating and specialized machines, accounted for 37.0 percent of the import bill as payments rose by 3.8 percent to $1.099 billion from $1.059 billion a year ago.
With a 36.7 percent share, Raw Materials and Intermediate Goods reported purchases amounting to $1.090 billion which was 10.8 percent higher than $984.17 million last year. This was due to the increase in imports of materials/accessories imported on consignment basis for the manufacture of electrical and electronic machinery, equipment and parts.
Purchases of Mineral Fuel and Lubricant amounted to $381.65 million, which was 81.9 percent higher than $209.85 million in 1999.
Expenditures for Consumer Goods went up by 22.1 percent to $256.33 million while payments for Special Transactions increased by 56.0 percent to $144.46 million.
Fig. 4. Philippine Imports by Major Type of Goods in September: 2000 & 1999
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)
JAPAN SOURCE OF 19.9 PERCENT OF THE IMPORT BILL
Purchases from Japan amounted to 19.9 percent share of the total import bill and increased by 22.3 percent to $590.58 million from $482.97 million last year. Exports to Japan, on the other hand, amounted to $488.56 million yielding a two-way trade figure of $1.079 billion and a BOT-G deficit of $102.02 million.
USA, the second biggest source of imports for the month with a 15.0 percent share, reported sales of $446.78 million against purchases amounting to $1.064 billion. Total trade reached $1.511 billion and the BOT-G surplus stood at $617.38 million.
The third biggest source of imports was Taiwan. Expenditures for imports amounted to $280.27 million while revenue from exports reached $281.18 million resulting in a two-way trade value of $561.45 million and a $0.91 million BOT-G surplus.
Other major sources of imports for September 2000 were Republic of Korea, $197.59 million; Singapore, $189.34 million; United Arab Emirates, $133.66 million; Iran, $100.67 million; Malaysia, $97.34 million; Hongkong, $94.16 million; and Thailand, $85.28 million.
Payments for imports from the top ten sources amounted to $2.216 billion or 74.6 percent of the total.
Fig. 5. Philippine Imports by Country in September: 2000 
UNCOLLECTED DOCUMENTS
As of presstime 96 out of 59,602 export documents and 103 out of 59,236 import documents are still expected from the ports.
Source: National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines
