JANUARY TO MAY TOTAL TRADE STANDS AT $26.055 BILLION

Total external trade in goods for January to May 2001 amounted to $26.055 billion or 3.7 percent lower than $27.047 billion in the same period last year. Bills for foreign-made merchandise dropped by 1.5 percent to $12.646 billion from $12.841 billion a year ago. Similarly, January to May 2001 exports posted a 5.6 percent year-on-year decrease to $13.410 billion from $14.206 billion last year. Balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) surplus amounted to $764 million or 44.0 percent lower than $1.364 billion last year.

MAY IMPORTS INCREASE BY 10.0 PERCENT

Total merchandise trade for May 2001, declined by 1.6 percent to $5.281 billion from $5.368 billion in May last year. Dollar-inflow generated by exports amounted to $2.6 billion, or an 11.3 percent decrease from $2.931 billion a year earlier, while expenditures for imported goods increased by 10.0 percent to $2.681 billion from $2.437 billion last year. The BOT-G deficit stood at $81 million.

ELECTRONICS COMPONENTS ACCOUNT FOR 20.7 PERCENT OF IMPORT BILL

Accounting for 20.7 percent of the aggregate import bill, payments forElectronics Components amounted to $553.93 million in May 2001 which was 12.5 percent higher than $492.60 million in the same month last year. Compared to the April 2001, dollar-outflow dropped by 12.1 percent from $630.29 million.

Purchases of Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery ranked second with a 10.7 percent share. Payments made reached $287.12 million for a 4.5 percent increment over last years $274.65 million a year ago.

Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials, the third top import reported purchases worth $273.54 million, or a 6.6 percent decrease from $292.70 million a year ago.

Office and EDP Machines, accounting for 6.8 percent of the total bill, ranked fourth as payments reached $181.05 million, up by 77.2 percent from $102.20 million last year.

Payments for Industrial Machinery and Equipment, which combined for a 4.9 percent share of the aggregate bill, fell by 7.9 percent to $131.42 million from $142.66 million.

Textile Yarn, Fabrics, Made-up Articles and Related Products,accounting for 4.1 percent of the total bill, was the sixth top import for the month with payments worth $110.90 million or 21.3 percent higher than $91.47 million last year.

Rounding up the list of the top imports for May 2001 wereMaterials/Accessories Imported on Consignment Basis for the Manufacture of Other Electrical and Electronic Machinery and Equipment, $105.47 million; Iron and Steel, $83.73 million;Cereals and Cereal Preparations, $83.52 million; and, Transport Equipment, $82.32 million.

Aggregate payment for the countrys top ten imports for May 2001 amounted to $1.893 billion or 70.6 percent of the total bill.

Fig. 2. Philippine Top Imports in May : 2000 & 2001
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar) 

CAPITAL GOODS ACCOUNT FOR 39.5 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL IMPORT BILL

Capital Goods led by Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery, rose by 13.3 percent year-on-year to $1.058 billion in May 2001 from $933.63 million in the same month last year. The groups share of the aggregate bill was placed at 39.5 percent.

Payments for Raw Materials and Intermediate Goods consisting of unprocessed and semi-processed raw materials accounted for 37.9 percent of the aggregate bill as importation stepped-up by 7.5 percent to $1.015 billion from $944.80 million in May 2000.

Purchases of Mineral Fuel & Lubricant valued at $273.54 million in May 2001, registered a 6.6 percent decrease from $292.70 million last year.

Expenditures for Consumer Goods increased by 18.3 percent to $243.72 million from $206.04 million, while Special Transactionsrose by 51.0 percent to $90.22 million from $59.73 million.

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

US LEADS TOP SUPPLIERS WITH 20.1 PERCENT

Purchases of goods made from US, accounting for 20.1percent of the total import bill, increased by 30.4 percent to $539.66 million from $413.83 million a year ago. Exports to US, on the other hand amounted to $690.48 million yielding a two-way trade figure of $1.230 billion and a trade surplus for RP placed at $150.82 million.

Japan, the second biggest source of imports with 18.2 percent share, reported shipments valued at $487.61 million against purchases amounting to $421.50 million. Total trade reached $909.11 million while trade deficit stood at $66.11 million.

Republic of Korea followed as the third biggest source of imports. With payments worth $171.89 million, imports from the Koreadecreased by 2.3 percent from $175.88 million while revenue from exports reached $69.96 million resulting to a total trade value of $241.85 million and a $101.93 million trade deficit.

Other major sources of imports for the month were Taiwan, $158.34 million; Singapore, $147.07 million; Hongkong, $118.61 million;Thailand, $92.45 million; People�s Republic of China , $86.53 million; Germany, $70.20 million; and Malaysia, $66.80 million.

Payments for imports from the top ten sources for the month amounted to $1.939 billion or 72.3 percent of the total.

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

UNCOLLECTED DOCUMENTS

As of press time 81 out of 55,810 export documents and 93 out of58,862 import documents are still expected from the ports.

Source: National Statistics Office
            Manila, Philippines