JANUARY TO JUNE BALANCE OF TRADE STANDS AT $2.280 BILLION
Total external trade in goods for the first six months of 2000 went up by 6.6 percent to $32.952 billion from $30.919 billion in 1999. Merchandise exports valued at $17.616 billion posted an 11.5 percent increase from $15.802 billion last year while total imports rose by 1.5 percent to $15.336 billion from $15.116 billion a year ago. The balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) for the period stood at a surplus of $2.280 billion.
Fig. 1. Philippine Foreign Trade by Month: 2000
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)
JUNE IMPORTS DOWN BY 6.6 PERCENT
For the month of June, total merchandise trade valued at $5.905 billion posted a 6.8 percent increase from $5.528 billion last year. Receipts from exports climbed by 19.4 percent to $3.410 billion from $2.857 billion while payments for imports reached $2.494 billion, which declined by 6.6 percent from $2.671 billion in 1999. The BOT-G was at a surplus of $916 million.
Fig. 2A. Philippine Trade Performance in January June : 2000 & 1999
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)
Fig. 2B. Philippine Trade Performance in June : 2000 & 1999
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)
ELECTRONICS AND COMPONENTS ACCOUNT FOR 20.5 PERCENT OF IMPORT BILL
Electronics and Components were still the top imports with a 20.5 percent share and payments of $511.56 million which dropped by 23.8 percent from $671.04 million last year.
Payments for Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials accounted for a 12.3 percent of the total with a value of $305.87 million which was 81.0 percent higher than $169.01 million in 1999.
Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery with a 10.1 percent share reported payments of $251.19 million for a 32.8 percent rise over $189.12 million the previous year.
The fourth top import for the month consisted of Industrial Machinery and Equipment with a share of 5.5 percent of the total. Aggregate payments went down by 9.1 percent to $136.30 million from $149.99 million last year.
Office and EDP Machines, accounting for 4.8 percent of the total, went down by 20.2 percent to $119.90 million from $150.23 million last year.
Materials/Accessories Imported on Consignment Basis for the Manufacture of Other Electrical and Electronic Machinery and Equipment comprised the sixth top import group with a share of 4.7 percent of the total bill. Payments reached $117.62 million which was 16.3 percent lower than $140.59 million a year earlier.
Rounding up the list of the top imports for June 2000 were Textile Yarn, Fabrics, Made-up Articles and Related Products, $104.30 million; Transport Equipment, $93.00 million; Power Generating and Specialized Machinery, $64.93 million; and Iron and Steel, $63.88 million.
Aggregate payment for the top ten imports for the month amounted to $1.769 billion, or 70.9 percent of the total.
Fig. 3. Philippine Top Imports in June: 2000 & 1999
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)
CAPITAL GOODS ACCOUNT FOR 39.0 PERCENT
Capital Goods led by Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery, accounted for 39.0 percent of the import bill reporting purchases worth $973.76 million which was 0.8 percent higher than $965.51 million a year ago.
Raw Materials and Intermediate Goods accounted for the second biggest slice at 38.8 percent. Actual payments amounted to $967.21 million, which decreased by 17.6 percent from $1.174 billion last year.
Purchases of Mineral Fuel and Lubricant were valued at $305.87 million, which was an 81.0 percent increase from $169.01 million in 1999.
Expenditures for Consumer Goods fell by 20.6 percent to $193.97 million while payments for Special Transactions also dropped by 54.6 percent to $53.67 million.
Fig. 4. Philippine Imports by Major Type of Goods in June: 2000 & 1999
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)
JAPAN CORNERS 21.0 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL BILL
With a 21.0 percent share of the total import bill, purchases from Japan led all sources of foreign-made merchandise despite a 7.6 percent slowdown. Value of imports from Japan amounted to $524.64 million, down from $568.01 million last year. Exports to Japan, on the other hand, amounted to $436.00 million yielding a two-way trade figure of $960.64 million and a BOT-G deficit of $88.64 million.
USA was second biggest source of imports for the month with a 14.7 percent share, reporting sales valued at $366.49 million against purchases (exports) amounting to $964.42 million. Total trade reached $1.331 billion while a BOT-G surplus stood at $597.94 million.
The third biggest source of imports was Republic of Korea. Expenditures for imports amounted to $179.34 million while revenues from exports reached $121.12 million resulting in a two-way trade value of $300.46 million and a $58.22 million BOT-G deficit.
Other major sources of imports for June 2000 were Singapore, $157.34 million; Taiwan, $144.29 million; United Arab Emirates, $110.47 million; Hongkong, $88.28 million; Malaysia, $83.90 million; Australia, $63.86 million; and Peoples Republic of China, $61.66 million;
Payments for imports from the top ten sources amounted to $1.780 billion or 71.4 percent of the total.
Fig. 5. Philippine Imports by Country in June: 2000
UNCOLLECTED DOCUMENTS
As of presstime 89 out of 60,771 export documents and 101 out of 53,775import documents are still expected from the ports.
Source: National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines
