SUMMARY REPORT OF THE MERCHANDISE EXPORT PERFORMANCE FOR MARCH 1998
(Preliminary)

FIRST QUARTER EXPORTS INCREASE BY 23.8 PERCENT

Exports of goods for the first quarter of 1998 increased by 23.8 percent to $6.815 billion from $5.506 billion last year.

Receipts for March 1998 alone reached $2.473 billion or 23.6 percent higher than $2.001 billion a year ago. It also increased by 11.0 percent from $2.227 billion last February 1998.

ELECTRONICS AND COMPONENTS UP BY 48.3 PERCENT

Shipments of Electronics and Components, accounting for 51.9 percent of aggregate exports, grew by 48.3 percent to $1.283 billion from $865.10 million last year.

Exports of Articles of Apparel and Clothing Accessories, the second top earner for the month, inched up by 1.2 percent to $195.57 million from $193.15 million a year ago.

Input/Output/Peripheral Units in third spot brought in $149.61 million or 18.7 percent higher than the year-ago level of $126.06 million.

Revenue from Coconut Oil exports gained 24.4 percent as shipments amounted to $42.40 million which was up from $34.09 million a year ago.

Ignition Wiring Sets and Other Wiring Sets Used in Vehicles, Aircraft and Ships remained at number five despite a 14.9 percent decline in revenue. Sales amounted to $38.53 million, which was $6.76 million lower than $45.29 million last year.

Rounding up the list of the top ten dollar earners for March 1998 were: Woodcraft and Furniture, $35.87 million; Other Products Manufactured from Materials Imported on Consignment Basis, $33.31 million; Cathodes and Sections of Cathodes, of Refined Copper, $29.64 million; Metal Components, $27.36 million; and Bananas, $22.12 million.

Aggregate receipts from the top ten exports amounted to $1.857 billion or 75.1 percent of the total for the month.

RECEIPTS FROM MANUFACTURED GOODS IMPROVE BY 26.1 PERCENT

Accounting for 88.4 percent of the aggregate receipts, Manufactured Goods posted a 26.1 percent rise in revenue as sales amounted to $2,185.31 million, up from $1,732.69 million a year earlier.

Agro-Based and other Agro-Based Products led by Coconut Products made up 6.2 percent of the aggregate value. Receipts reached $153.0 million, which was up by 3.3 percent from $148.12 million last year.

Other major commodity groups and their respective shares were Mineral Products, $59.10 million; Special Transactions, $63.97 million; Petroleum Products, $8.41 million; and Forest Products, $2.82 million.

US-BOUND EXPORTS ACCOUNT FOR 32.9 PERCENT

Exports to the United States, valued at $813.28 million and accounting for 32.9 percent of total, posted an 18.6 percent increase from $685.62 million a year earlier.

Japan at second purchased some $417.88 million worth of goods or 20.5 percent higher than $346.68 million last year. Its share was 16.9 percent of the total.

The Netherlands bought $156.58 million worth of local merchandise, which was a 12.1 percent increase over $139.71 million a year ago.

Taiwan and United Kingdom of Great Britain emerged as the fourth and fifth biggest markets respectively for the month. Sales to Taiwan were valued at $156.22 million while those to the United Kingdom of Great Britain amounted to $135.43 million.

Other top markets were Singapore, $127.71 million; Hongkong, $122.28 million; Germany, $113.90 million; Malaysia, $95.14 million; and Republic of Korea, $49.30 million.

Aggregate value of exports to the top ten markets amounted to $2,187.72 million or 88.5 percent of the total.