JANUARY TO JULY TOTAL TRADE STANDS AT $38.803 BILLION

Total external trade in goods for January to July 2002 amounted to $38.803 billion or 6.3 percent higher than $36.497 billion in 2001. The bill for foreign-made merchandise increased by 5.7 percent to $18.944 billion from $17.915 billion. Likewise, exports posted a 6.9 percent year-on-year increase to an aggregate dollar revenue of $19.859 billion from $18.582 billion a year earlier. Balance of trade surplus for the Philippines amounted to $915 million or 37.1 percent higher than last year's $667 million.

Fig. 1A. Philippine Trade Performance in January - July : 2001 & 2002
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

Fig. 1B. Philippine Trade Performance in July: 2001 & 2002
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

JULY IMPORTS INCREASED BY 13.6 PERCENT

Total merchandise trade for July 2002 increased by 18.2 percent to $6.213 billion from $5.255 billion during the same period last year. Dollar-inflow generated by exports amounted to $3.191 billion, or a 23.0 percent increase from last year's $2.594 billion. On the other hand, expenditures for imported goods rose by 13.6 percent to $3.023 billion from $2.660 billion The BOT-G surplus was recorded at $168 million, or a 355.9 percent reversal over last year's deficit placed at $66 million.

ELECTRONICS AND COMPONENTS ACCOUNT FOR 25.7 PERCENT OF IMPORT BILL

Accounting for 25.7 percent of the total aggregate import bill, payments for Electronics and Components amounted to $777.63 million or 65.0 percent higher than last year's $471.33 million. Compared to the previous month, dollar-outflow gained by 0.7 percent from $772.30 million.

Purchases of Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials ranked second with 11.9 percent share. Payments made registered $360.52 million for a 7.4 percent increase over last year's $335.61 million.

Office and EDP Machines, the third top import reported purchases worth $308.52 million, or a 60.8 percent increase from $191.85 million last year.

Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery accounting for 7.7 percent of the total import bill, ranked fourth as payments reached $232.41 million, lower by 5.8 percent from last year's $246.83 million.

Expenditures for Industrial Machinery and Equipment, contributing 4.1 percent share to the aggregate bill, went down by 11.2 percent to $122.95 million from $138.40 million in July 2001.

Transport Equipment, accounting for 3.9 percent of the total bill, was RP's sixth top import for the month with payments posted at $116.89 million or 12.9 percent higher than last year's $103.55 million.

Rounding up the list of the top imports for July 2002 were: Textile Yarn, Fabrics, Made-up Articles and Related Products, $113.72 million; Cereals and Cereal Preparations, $78.40 million; Iron and Steel, $77.90 million; and Materials/Accessories Imported on Consignment Basis for the Manufacture of Other Electrical and Electronic Machinery and Equipment, $77.13 million.

Aggregate payment for the country's top ten imports for July 2002 amounted to $2.266 billion or 75.0 percent of the total bill.

Fig. 2. Philippine Top Imports in July 2001 & 2002

CAPITAL GOODS ACCOUNT FOR 40.0 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL IMPORT BILL

Capital Goods comprising 40.0 percent of the aggregate bill increased by 26.0 percent year-on-year to $1.208 billion from $959.20 million. The group was led by Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery valued at $634.61 million or a 21.0 percent share of the total.

Payments for Raw Materials and Intermediate Goods consisting of Unprocessed Raw Materials and Semi-processed Raw Materials accounted for 38.2 percent of the aggregate bill as importation went up by 9.7 percent to $1.154 billion from $1.051 billion.

Purchases of Mineral Fuel and Lubricant valued at $360.52 million, registered a 7.4 percent gain from $335.61 million.

Expenditures for Consumer Goods decreased by 9.1 percent to $215.25 million from $236.77 million, while Special Transactions went up by 9.9 percent to $84.78 million from $77.16 million.

Fig. 3. Philippine Imports by Major Type of Goods in July: 2001 & 2002
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

JAPAN CORNERS 20.1 PERCENT OF JULY IMPORT BILL

Purchases of Japanese made goods, accounting for 20.1 percent of the total import bill, went up by 14.4 percent to $607.99 million from $531.36 million a year ago. Exports to Japan, on the other hand amounted to $455.06 million yielding a two-way trade figure of $1.063 billion and a trade deficit for RP placed at $152.93 million.

US, the country's second biggest source of imports with 18.1 percent share, reported shipments valued at $546.94 million against exports amounting to $855.59 million. Total trade reached $1.402 billion while trade surplus for the Philippines posted at $308.65 million.

Singapore followed as RP's third biggest source of imports. With payments worth $203.28 million, imports from Singapore increased by 26.6 percent from $160.53 million while revenue from RP's exports reached $214.60 million resulting to a total trade value of $417.88 million and an $11.32 million surplus for RP.

Other major sources of imports for the month were: ; Republic of Korea, $195.58 million; Taiwan, $161.01 million; Hongkong, $154.31 million; Saudi Arabia, $126.24 million; Malaysia, $111.93 million; People's Republic of China, $98.46 million; and Thailand, $85.37 million.

Payment for imports from the top ten sources for the month amounted to $2.291 billion or 75.8 percent of the total.

Fig. 4. Philippine Imports by Country in July: 2002

UNCOLLECTED DOCUMENTS

As of press time 69 out of 64,988 export documents and 81 out of 66,593 import documents are still expected from the ports.

Source: National Statistics Office
              Manila, Philippines