MERCHANDISE EXPORTS DROP BY 11.4 PERCENT

Receipts from merchandise exports for January to May 2001 decreased by 5.6 percent to $13.407 billion from $14.206 billion during the same period last year.

For May 2001, merchandise exports declined by 11.4 percent to $2.597 billion from $2.931 billion.

ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS DECLINE BY 21.8 PERCENT

Receipts from Electronic Components, accounting for 51.3 percent of the aggregate export revenue for the month went down by 21.8 percent to $1.331 billion from $1.703 billion a year earlier.

Articles of Apparel and Clothing Accessories remained as the countrys second top earner with a combined share of 7.5 percent and an aggregate receipts of $193.85 million or 3.3 percent lower than 2000s $200.45 million.

Third top earner for the month consisted of Coconut Oil valued at $40.61 million, or a 29.2 percent increase from last years $31.45 million.

Metal Components ranked fourth with sales amounting to $39.91 million or a year-on-year increase of 11.0 percent from $35.94 million.

Revenue from Ignition Wiring Set and Other Wiring Sets Used in Vehicles, Aircrafts and Ships , dropped by 20.0 percent to $35.62 million from $44.51 million during the same month of 2000.

Other Products Manufactured from Materials Imported on Consignments Basis, with 1.3 percent share reported sales of $34.16 million or 3.5 percent higher than last years $33.01 million.

Rounding-up the list of the top exports for the month of May 2001 were: Cathodes, of Refined Copper, $32.85 million;Woodcrafts and Furniture, $28.69 million; Bananas (Fresh),$25.48 million, and Petroleum Products, $15.27 million.

Aggregate receipts for the top ten exports amounted to $1.778 billion, or 68.5 percent of the total.

Fig. 1. Philippine Top Exports in May : 2000 & 2001
( F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar ) 

MANUFACTURED GOODS DOWN BY 13.5 PERCENT

Accounting for 87.2 percent of the total receipts, exports ofManufactured Goods posted a 13.5 percent slowdown as sales dropped to $2.264 billion from $2.616 billion a year earlier.

Income from Agro-Based and Other Agro-Based Productscombined for $137.25 million or 5.3 percent of the total. Compared to last year, aggregate revenue for these commodity groups inched up by 1.1 percent from $135.83 million.

Special Transactions increased by 48.0 percent to $119.70 million, while receipts from exports of Petroleum Products went down by 53.4 percent to $15.46 million.

Fig. 2. Philippine Exports by Commodity Group in May : 2000 & 2001
( F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar ) 

EXPORTS TO US ACCOUNT FOR 26.7 PERCENT

Accounting for 26.7 percent of the countrys aggregate receipts for the month, value of exports to the United States declined by 16.4 percent to $693.55 million, from last years reported figure of $829.85 million.

Japan followed with a 16.0 percent share. Valued at $415.89 million, exports to Japan grew by 1.9 percent from 2000s $408.27 million.

Exports to Netherlands, RPs third biggest market accounting for 11.5 percent of the total receipts, registered a 36.9 percent increase in sales amounting to $298.89 million higher than $218.37 million a year earlier.

Taiwan emerged as the fourth biggest market for the month as shipments of local goods amounted to $168.23 million or 6.5 percent of the total. Compared to the same months last year figure, receipts decreased by 26.5 percent from $228.78 million. Other top markets for May 2001 were: Singapore, $165.89 million; Hongkong, $117.54 million; Thailand, $111.71 million;Germany , $110.06 million; Malaysia, $90.12 million; andUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and N. Ireland, $73.54 million.

Total export receipts from RPs top ten markets amounted to $2.245 billion or 86.5 percent of the total.

Fig. 3. Philippine Top Exports by Country in May 2001
( F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar ) 

Source: National Statistics Office
              Manila, Philippines