FOUR MONTH EXPORT REVENUE DOWN BY 4.1 PERCENT

Receipts from merchandise exports for January to April 2001 fell by 4.1 percent to $10.810 billion from $11.275 billion during the same period last year.

Aggregate receipts for April 2001 declined by 15.8 percent to $2.246 billion from $2.668 billion during the same period a year earlier. The decline was reported for most of the top exports.

ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS REGISTER 28.0 PERCENT DECREASE

Receipts from Electronic Components, accounting for 48.4 percent of the aggregate export revenue in April 2001 went down by 28.0 percent to $1.088 billion from $1.510 billion a year earlier.

Articles of Apparel and Clothing Accessories remained as the second top earner with a combined share of 8.1 percent and an aggregate receipt of $181.74 million, or 6.7 percent higher than $170.34 million in April 2000.

Third top earner for the month consisted of Ignition Wiring Set and Other Wiring Sets Used in Vehicles, Aircrafts and Shipsvalued at $42.94 million, or a 2.3 percent increase from $41.98 million a year ago.

Coconut Oil ranked fourth with sales amounting to $35.45 million or a year-on-year decrease of 14.7 percent from $41.54 million.

Revenues from Metal Components decreased by 3.7 percent to $32.41 million from $33.66 million during the same month last year.

Other Products Manufactured from Materials Imported on Consignment Basis, with a 1.3 percent share reported sales of $29.6 million or 24.0 percent higher than $23.88 million last year.

Rounding-up the list of the top exports for the month of April 2001 were Woodcrafts and Furniture, $28.43 million;Bananas (Fresh), $25.36 million; Cathodes & Sections of Cathodes, of Refined Copper, $18.61 million; and Pineapple and Pineapple Products, $12.75 million.

Aggregate receipts for the top ten exports amounted to $1.495 billion, or 66.6 percent of the total.

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

MANUFACTURED GOODS DROP 15.9 PERCENT

Accounting for 87.2 percent of the total receipts, exports ofManufactured Goods drop by 15.9 percent as sales settled at $1.958 billion, down from $2.328 billion a year earlier.

Income from Agro-Based and Other Agro-Based Productscombined for $133.97 million or 6.0 percent of the total. Compared to last year, aggregate revenue for these commodity groups decreased by 22.0 percent from $171.75 million.

Exports of Petroleum Products went down by 23.7 percent to $12.73 million while Special Transactions grew by 1.7 percent to $102.41 million.

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

EXPORTS TO US ACCOUNT FOR 29.6 PERCENT

Accounting for 29.6 percent of the aggregate receipts for the month, value of exports to the United States placed at $665.96 million declined by 13.4 percent from $769.02 million last year.

Japan followed with a 16.7 percent share. Valued at $375.09 million, exports to Japan fell by 14.6 percent from $439.07 million a year ago.

Exports to Netherlands, the third biggest market accounting for 7.6 percent of the total receipts, suffered a 21.2 percent slowdown. Sales amounted to $171.57 million, down from $217.61 million a year earlier.

Taiwan emerged as the fourth biggest market for the month as shipments of local goods amounted to $148.09 million or 6.6 percent of the total. Compared to the same month last year, receipts decreased by 23.5 percent from $193.65 million.

Other top markets for April 2001 were Singapore, $133.44 million; Hongkong, $125.89 million; Germany, $111.90 million;Thailand, $78.54 million; United Kingdom of Great Britain, $75.96 million; and Malaysia, $72.56 million.

Total export receipts from the top ten markets amounted to $1.959 billion or 87.2 percent of the total.

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

Source: National Statistics Office
              Manila, Philippines