DECEMBER 2013 TOTAL TRADE STAND AT $9.894 BILLION

            Total external trade in goods for December 2013 reached $9.894 billion, representing a 6.7 percent increase from $9.271 billion recorded during the same month in 2012.  The total imports for December 2013 slightly decreased by 0.1 percent while the total exports increased by 15.8 percent this year.  However, the balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) for the country in December 2013 registered a deficit of $695.01 million from $1.330 billion deficit in the same period last year.

IMPORTS WENT DOWN BY 0.1 PERCENT IN DECEMBER 2013

          The country’s total imported goods for this month slightly decreased by 0.1 percent from  $5.300 billion in December 2012 to $5.294 billion for the same period this year.  The negative growth resulted from the decrease in imports of the following major commodity groups: feeding stuff for animals (not including unmilled cereals); electronic products; industrial machinery and equipment; iron and steel; and transport equipment.  However, on a monthly basis, it increased by 1.1 percent compared to previous month’s level of $5.236 billion.

          Aggregate imports for the year 2013 amounted to $61.713 billion and showed a 0.7 percent decrease compared with $62.129 billion in the same period of last year.

ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS ACCOUNT FOR 22.6 PERCENT OF IMPORT BILL

         Imported merchandise on Electronic Products were the top imported commodity in December 2013, accounting for 22.6 percent and value amounting to $1.196 billion of the total import bill.  It decreased by 7.3 percent over last year's figure of $1.289 billion.  On a monthly basis, it rose by 2.9 percent from $1.162 billion recorded in November 2013.  Among the major groups of electronic products, Components/Devices (Semiconductors), with the biggest share of 17.2 percent, decreased by 2.9 percent from $938.14 million in December 2012 compared to $910.94 million in December 2013.

        Imports of Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials ranked second with 22.4 percent share and reported value of $1.186 billion in December 2013.  It went up by 34.7 percent from $880.83 million in December 2012.

         Transport Equipment placed third with 12.5 percent share to total imports valued at $662.07 million.  It decelerated by 12.1 percent from previous year’s level of $753.35 million.  Similarly, on a month-on-month basis, it decreased by 3.3 percent from $684.85 million in November 2013.

         Industrial Machinery and Equipment, contributing 4.5 percent to the total import bill was the country’s fourth top import for the month amounting to $240.24 million.  It went down by 9.2 percent compared to last year’s value of $264.68 million.  Also, this product decelerated by 2.2 percent compared with last month.

        Fifth in rank and with 3.0 percent share to the total imports, Cereals and Cereal Preparations recorded $159.76 million worth of imports.  It increased by 64.9 percent from its year ago level of $96.87 million.

      Rounding up the list of the top ten imports for December 2013 were: Other Food and Live Animals valued at $145.96 million; Plastics in Primary and Non-Primary Forms, $128.70; Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles amounting to $119.36 million; Iron and Steel, $114.95 million; and Feeding Stuff for Animals (Not Including Unmilled Cereals), $111.36 million. 

         Aggregate payment for the country’s top ten imports for December 2013 reached $4.064 billion or 76.8 percent of the total import bill.

RAW MATERIALS AND INTERMEDIATE GOODS ACCOUNT FOR 38.7 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL IMPORTS

          Payments in December 2013 for Raw Materials and Intermediate Goods accounted for 38.7 percent of the total imports and valued at $2.048 billion.  It increased by 10.3 percent over last year's figure of $1.857 billion.  On a month-on-month basis, purchases also went up by 26.0 percent from $1.626 billion.  Semi-Processed Raw Materials had the biggest share of 35.1 percent and valued at $1.857 billion.

          Total imports of Capital Goods, comprising 24.4 percent of the total imports, went down by 29.5 percent from $1.830 billion in December 2012 to $1.291 billion in December 2013.

          Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials with 22.4 percent share to total imports increased by 34.7 percent to $1.186 billion in December 2013 to $880.83 million in December 2012.

          Purchases of Consumer Goods recorded a 13.7 percent share to total imports which valued at $723.54 million.  It increased by 5.2 percent from $687.59 million in December 2012.  

         Special Transactions rose by 1.2 percent to $45.23 million from $44.69 million in December 2012.

IMPORTS FROM PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ACCOUNT FOR 14.7 PERCENT

         People’s Republic of China was the country’s biggest source of imports with 14.7 percent share.  Payments were recorded at $776.49 million, an increase of 29.9 percent from $597.74 million in December 2012.   Revenue from country’s exports to China, on the other hand, reached $746.82 million, generating a total trade value of $1.523 billion and $29.67 million trade deficit.

           United States of America (USA) including Alaska and Hawaii was second biggest source of imports with 10.9 percent share of the total import bill, lower by 31.4 percent from $839.11 million to $575.79 million in December 2013.  Exports to USA amounted to $570.37 million, yielding a two-way trade value of $1.146 billion and a trade deficit for the country of $5.42 million.

            Republic of Korea, came third, accounting for 8.0 percent share of the total import bill in December 2013 with a positive growth of 10.0 percent to $422.22 million from $383.78 million in the same period of last year.  Exports to Korea amounted to $199.22 million resulting to a total trade value of $621.44 million and a trade deficit of $223.00 million.

         Japan including Okinawa ranked fourth accounting for 7.7 percent share of the total import bill in December 2013 or a decrease of 11.0 percent from $455.12 million to $405.07 million compared to same period.  Exports to Japan amounted to $1.059 billion resulting to a total trade value of $1.464 billion and a trade surplus of $654.05 million.

          Fifth in rank was Taiwan, representing a 7.2 percent of the total import bill in December 2013, amounting to $383.60 million.  Meanwhile, export receipts from Taiwan in December 2013 reached $156.35 million yielding a total trade value of $539.95 million and a trade deficit of $227.25 million.

         Other major sources of imports for the month of December 2013 were: Saudi Arabia, $349.24 million; Thailand, $324.47 million; Singapore, $315.11 million; Indonesia, $247.81 million; and Malaysia, $243.06 million.

            Payments for imports from the top ten sources for December 2013 amounted to $4.043 billion or 76.4 percent of the total.

IMPORTS FROM EAST ASIA VALUED AT $2.105 BILLION 

            Philippines’ total imports in December 2013 from East Asia (China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea and Taiwan) accounted for 39.8 percent of the country’s total imports with total payments of $2.105 billion, higher by 8.1 percent from $1.948 billion in December 2012. Total exports to member-countries of East Asia were valued at $2.570 billion resulting to a total trade of $4.675 billion and a balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) surplus of $465.65 million.

           Imported goods from ASEAN member-countries for December 2013 registered at $1.199 billion, contributed 22.6 percent share, increasing by 7.3 percent from $1.118 billion registered in December 2012.  Exports to ASEAN member-countries were worth $651.67 million, resulting to a total trade of $1.851 billion and a trade deficit of $547.50 million.

        Imports from European Union were valued at $559.81 million.  It increased by 10.8 percent compared to a year ago recorded value of $505.34 million.  Exports to member-countries of European Union were worth $487.50 million, resulting to a total trade value of $1.047 billion and a trade deficit of $72.31 million.

Technical Notes:

1. Adjustments on electronic import statistics are based on the transactions that pass through the Electronic to Mobile (e2m) of the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

2. Starting with the 2007 Press Release, analysis and tables are based on the 2004 Philippine Standard Commodity Classification (PSCC) groupings.  This is in compliance with   NSCB   Resolution No. 03, Series of 2005 entitled “Approving and Adopting the 2004 Philippine Standard Commodity Classification” by all concerned government agencies and instrumentalities

CARMELITA N. ERICTA

National Statistician