MERCHANDISE EXPORTS REGISTER 25.8 PERCENT DECREASE

Total value of merchandise exports for January to August 2001 fell by 13.0 percent to $21.203 billion from $24.365 billion during the same period last year.

For August 2001, reported earnings declined by 25.8 percent to $2.621 billion from $3.529 billion during the same month a year ago.

ELECTRONICS COMPONENTS DECLINE BY 40.1 PERCENT

Revenues from Electronics Components, accounting for 50.1 percent of the aggregate export revenue for the month, went down by 40.1 percent to $1.313 billion from $2.194 billion last year.

Articles of Apparel and Clothing Accessories remained as the second top earner with a combined share of 8.0 percent and an aggregate export revenue of $210.76 million or 14.0 percent lower than $245.19 million last year.

Ignition Wiring Set and Other Wiring Sets Used in Vehicles, Aircrafts and Ships combined for $53.66 million reflecting a 0.8 percent increase from $53.25 million last year.

Other Products Manufactured from Materials Imported on Consignments Basis ranked fourth with sales amounting to $51.89 million and a year-on-year growth of 56.3 percent from $33.20 million.

Revenue from Coconut Oil dropped 3.9 percent to $48.41 million from $50.40 million during the same month of 2000.

Rounding-up the list of the top exports for the month of August 2001 were Woodcrafts and Furniture, $36.35 million; Metal Components, $30.85 million; Bananas Fresh, $22.63 million,Cathodes & Sections of Cathodes, of Refined Copper, $21.81 million, Petroleum Products, $19.93 million.

Aggregate export revenue for the top ten exports amounted to $1.810 billion, or 69.1 percent of the total exports.

Fig. 1. Philippine Top Exports in August : 2000 & 2001
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

MANUFACTURED GOODS DROP 27.7 PERCENT

Accounting for 88.6 percent of the total revenue, exports ofManufactured Goods went down by 27.7 percent as sales reached $2.322 billion from $3.212 billion during the same period last year.

Income from Agro-Based Products combined for $138.28 million or 5.3 percent of the total export revenue. Compared to last year, aggregate revenue for this commodity group dropped by 4.6 percent from $144.93 million.

Special Transactions grew by 21.8 percent to $94.82 million, while revenue from exports of Mineral Products went down by 8.1 percent to $43.37 million.

Petroleum Products contributed $19.93 million, while Forest Products added $2.56 million dollars.

Fig. 2. Philippine Exports by Commodity Group in August : 2000 & 2001
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

EXPORTS TO US ACCOUNT FOR 27.7 PERCENT

Accounting for 27.7 percent of the aggregate revenue for the month, value of exports to the United States placed at $726.09 million, dropped by 32.6 percent from the reported figure of $1.078 billion last year.

Japan followed with a 13.9 percent share. Valued at $365.11 million, exports to Japan went down by 21.1 percent from $463.02 million.

Netherlands, accounting for 10.9 percent of the total export revenue, suffered a 3.5 percent slowdown in receipts amounting to $285.05 million from $295.34 million a year earlier.

Singapore emerged as the fourth biggest market for the month as shipments of local goods amounted to $175.15 million or 6.7 percent of the total. Compared to the same month last year, revenue fell by 41.2 percent from $298.12 million. Other top markets for August 2001 were Taiwan, $161.65 million; Hongkong, $137.97 million; Malaysia, $107.56 million; Thailand, $103.98 million;Republic of Korea, $100.06 million; Germany, $95.82 million.

Total export revenue from the top ten markets amounted to $2.258 billion or 86.2 percent of the total.

Fig. 3. Philippine Top Exports by Country in August 2001
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

Source: National Statistics Office
              Manila, Philippines

Page last revised: October 4, 2001