JANUARY TO MARCH TOTAL TRADE STANDS AT $15.831 BILLION

Total external trade in goods for January to March 2001 amounted to $15.831 billion or 4.0 percent lower than $16.483 billion in the first quarter of year 2000. Bill for foreign-made merchandise dropped by 7.7 percent to $7.267 billion from $7.876 billion. On the other hand, exports posted a 0.5 percent year-on-year decline reporting an aggregate dollar revenue of $8.564 billion down from $8.607 billion in 2000. Balance of trade surplus for the Philippines amounted to $1.297 billion or 7.2 percent higher than $731 million last year.

MARCH IMPORTS FALL BY 5.1 PERCENT

Total merchandise trade for March 2001 declined by 4.5 percent to $5.472 billion from $5.730 billion a year earlier. Dollar-inflow generated by exports amounted to $2.870 billion, or a 4.0 percent slowdown from $2.989 billion last year, while expenditures for imported goods shrank 5.1 percent to $2.602 billion from $2.742 billion. The BOT-G surplus stood at $267 million.

ELECTRONICS AND COMPONENTS ACCOUNT FOR 16.7 PERCENT OF IMPORT BILL

Accounting for 16.7 percent of the aggregate import bill, payments forElectronics and Components amounted to $433.95 million in March 2001 or 29.1 percent lower than $612.04 million last year. Compared to the previous month, dollar-outflow stepped-up by 16.2 percent from $373.53 million.

Purchases of Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materialsranked second with a 10.5 percent share. Payments made reached $273.52 million for a 22.3 percent decline over last years $352.03 million.

Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery, the third top import reported purchases worth $243.09 million, or a 0.3 percent backslide from $243.80 million a year back.

Office and EDP Machines, accounting for.6.5 percent of the total bill, ranked fourth as payments reached $169.25 million, up by 55.4 percent from $108.92 million last year.

Payments for Industrial Machinery and Equipment combined for a 6.1 percent share of the aggregate bill, which fell by 10.0 percent to $159.17 million from $176.85 million.

Transport Equipment accounting for 4.9 percent of the total bill, was the sixth top import for the month with payments worth $127.40 million or 37.5 percent higher than $92.65 million a year ago.

Rounding up the list of the top imports for March 2001 wereMaterials/Accessories Imported on Consignment Basis for the Manufacture of Other Electrical and Electronic Machinery and Equipment, $122.61 million; Textile Yarn, Fabrics, Made-up Articles and Related Products, $113.16 million; Iron and Steel,$78.16 million; and, Organic and Inorganic Chemical, $69.25 million.

Aggregate payments for the top ten imports for March 2001 amounted to $1.790 billion or 68.8 percent of the total bill.

Fig. 2. Philippine Top Imports in March : 2000 & 2001

(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar) 

CAPITAL GOODS ACCOUNT FOR 37.2 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL IMPORT BILL

Capital Goods, led by Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery, accounted for 37.2 percent of the aggregate bill as importation declined by 10.3 percent to $968.38 million in March 2001 from $1.079 billion last year.

Payments for Raw Materials and Intermediate Goods consisting of unprocessed and semi-processed raw materials rose by 5.85 percent year-on-year to $1.072 billion from $1.012 billion. The groups share of the aggregate bill was placed at 41.2 percent.

Purchases of Mineral Fuel & Lubricant, valued at $273.52 million, registered a 22.3 percent decrease from $352.03 million.

Expenditures for Consumer Goods decreased by 2.9 percent to $222.84 million while Special Transactions fell by 4.0 percent to $65.88 million.

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

JAPAN CORNERS 20.7 PERCENT OF MARCH IMPORT BILL

Purchases of Japanese made goods, accounting for 20.7 percent of the total import bill, increased by 15.9 percent to $539.23 million in March 2001 from $465.45 million a year ago. Exports to Japan, on the other hand, amounted to $501.37 million yielding a two-way trade figure of $1.041 billion and a trade deficit placed at $37.86 million.

US, the second biggest source of imports with a 16.3 percent share, reported shipments valued at $423.20 million against purchases amounting to $768.67 million. Total trade reached $1.192 billion while trade surplus stood at $345.47 million.

Taiwan followed as the third biggest source of imports. With payments worth $183.97 million, imports from Taiwan increased by 27.2 percent from $144.6 million while exports reached $189.03 million resulting to a total trade value of $373.00 million and a $5.06 million surplus for RP.

Other major sources of imports for the month were Republic of Korea, $153.00 million; Singapore, $143.96 million; Hongkong,$109.75 million; Saudi Arabia, $104.24 million; Germany, $76.41 million; Peoples Republic of China, $74.58 million; andAustralia, $68.06 million.

Payment for imports from the top ten sources for the month amounted to $1.876 billion or 72.1 percent of the total.

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

UNCOLLECTED DOCUMENTS

As of press time 91 out of 57,316 export documents and 112 out of57,850 import documents are still expected from the ports.

Source: National Statistics Office
            Manila, Philippines