* Includes transactions that passed through Automated Export Documentation System (AEDS).
p - preliminary
r - revised

JANUARY 2008 MERCHANDISE EXPORTS INCREASE BY 6.4 PERCENT

Export earnings in January 2008 inched up by 6.4 percent to $4.241 billion from $3.987 billion in January 2007. However, a decline of 5.2 percent was noted as compared to the previous month's level of $4.472 billion.

ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS UP BY 1.6 PERCENT

Accounting for 61.5 percent of the aggregate export revenue in January 2008, Electronic Products slightly went up by 1.6 percent to $2.609 billion from $2.568 billion in January 2007.

Articles of Apparel and Clothing Accessories continued to be the country’s second top earner with a combined share of 4.1 percent and an aggregate receipt of $171.65 million or 15.7 percent lower than the $203.53 million in January 2007.  

Coconut oil, ranked third with total revenue of $131.33 million reflecting a 618.7 percent climb from $18.27 million in January 2007.

Petroleum Products, ranked fourth with sales amounting to $106.41 million or a growth of 57.8 percent from $67.43 million in January 2007.

Cathodes and Sections of Cathodes of Refined Copper, ranked fifth with export receipts of $89.28 million or a year-on-year decline of 28.0 percent from $124.01 million in January 2007.

Rounding up the list of the top ten exports for the month of January 2008 were Woodcrafts and Furniture, $76.51 million or an annual growth of 1.4 percent; Ignition Wiring Set and Other Wiring Sets Used in Vehicles, Aircrafts and Ships (consisted only of electrical wiring harness for motor vehicles), $70.43 million or a year-on-year growth of 13.5 percent; Metal Components with an export valued at $44.28 million, up by 29.7 percent; Gold (extracted from copper and ore concentrates) with proceeds billed at $42.28 million or an increase of 451.4 percent; and Other Products Manufactured from Materials Imported on Consignment Basis, with export revenue of $41.78 million or 32.7 percent decrease from the same month in 2007. 

Total receipts from the top ten exports reached $3.383 billion, or 79.8 percent of the total exports.

Fig. 1  Philippine Top Exports: January 2008 and 2007
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollars)
 

EXPORTS OF MANUFACTURED GOODS UP BY 1.4 PERCENT

Accounting for 83.2 percent of the total receipts, export of Manufactured Goods was $3.530 billion or a 1.4 percent increase from $3.483 billion in January 2007.  

Earnings from Mineral Products reached $184.86 million or 4.4 percent of the total export revenue, registered a decline of 2.0 percent from $188.69 million in January 2007.

Income from All Agro-Based Products went up by 100.6 percent to $241.09 million from $120.17 million in January 2007, which may be due to the increase in the shipments of Coconut oil.

Receipts from exports of the Special Transactions with a share of 4.1 percent grew by 41.4 percent to $175.56 million from $124.14 million in January 2007.

Petroleum Products, on the other hand, increased by 57.8 percent to $106.41 million from $67.43 million in January 2007.  Meanwhile, exports revenue of Forest Products went down by 9.5 percent to $3.15 million from $3.48 million recorded in January 2007.

Fig. 2  Philippine Exports by Commodity Group: January 2008 and 2007
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollars)
 

EXPORTS TO UNITED STATES ACCOUNT FOR 16.2 PERCENT

United States of America (USA) is still the top market of the country for January with export receipts of $688.83 million, accounting for 16.2 percent of the country's aggregate income for the month. Receipts went down by 1.0 percent from last year's reported figure of $695.56 million.

Japan followed with export earnings of $630.74 million or a 14.9 percent share of the total exports for January 2008 which resulted to an increase of 3.9 percent from $606.87 million in January 2007.

Hong Kong emerged as the third biggest market for January 2008 with shipments amounting to $552.01 million or 13.0 percent of the total, an increment of 20.7 percent from a year ago level of $457.26 million.

People’s Republic of China, ranked fourth with $505.16 million or 11.9 percent of the total export revenue, reflected a 1.7 percent increase from $496.55 million in January 2007.

Other top markets for January 2008 were Netherlands, $370.01 million; Singapore, $258.80 million; Germany, $224.30 million; Malaysia, $188.36 million; Republic of Korea, $132.15 million; and Thailand, $124.49 million.

Total export receipts from RP’s top ten markets for the month of January 2008 amounted to $3.675 billion or 86.7 percent of the total.

Fig. 3  Philippine Top Exports by Country: January 2008
   (F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollars)

Technical Note:

Starting on January 2007 Press Release, analysis and tables are based on 2004 Philippine Standard Commodity Classification (PSCC) groupings (as amended in 1999).  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.

Source:    Foreign Trade Statistics Section
               Industry and Trade Statistics Department
               National Statistics Office
               Manila, Philippines