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PHILIPPINE exports rose in January this year, compared
with the same period in 2007, indicating that the
country has yet to feel the effects of a slowdown in the
United States, its largest trading partner and the
world’s largest economy.
In a
statement issued by the National Statistics Office (NSO),
the Southeast Asian nation shipped more electronics
products, clothes and coconut-based goods worth $4.241
billion, a 6.4-percent increase over $3.987 billion
posted in January 2007.
Despite
higher earnings, the NSO said that January’s export
growth moved at a slower pace compared with the
12.9-percent year-on-year growth posted a year ago.
January’s earnings also represented a 5.2-percent
decline from export earnings in December 2007, which
reached $4.472 billion.
But
slower export growth is expected since foreign-bound
goods are expected to weaken due to the
US
recession and higher oil prices, according to Ernesto
Pernia, University of the Philippines economist.
Although
some international analysts said the US slowdown will
only last for five months, this will not guarantee that
exports will grow at a faster rate in 2008 compared with
last year.
“[Export
growth in the] second half will be better than the first
half but not as fast as last year. High oil prices will
impact on the manufacturing sector from which exports
come,” Pernia said in a phone interview. “The demand for
exports will be low due to the slowdown in our main
markets, while on the supply side the cost of producing
exports will be higher due to high oil prices and other
inputs.”
The
country’s total receipts from the top 10 exports reached
$3.383 billion, or 79.8 percent of the total exports.
Electronics products remained the Philippines’ top
earner, comprising a chunk of Philippine export earnings
at 61.5 percent. Electronics grew slightly by 1.6
percent to $2.609 billion from $2.568 billion in January
2007.
Articles
of Apparel and Clothing Accessories also remained at
second place, with a combined share of 4.1 percent and
an aggregate receipt of $171.65 million. However, the
NSO noted that this was a decline of 15.7 compared with
the $203.53 million posted in January 2007.
Meanwhile, coconut products ranked third with total
revenue of $147.43 million, which represented 3.48
percent of the country’s total export earnings. For this
category, the main growth driver was coconut oil, which
posted earnings worth $131.33 million, representing a
618.7-percent climb from $18.27 million in January 2007.
Other
top exports for January 2008 included petroleum
products, $106.41 million; cathodes and sections of
cathodes of refined copper, $89.28 million; and
woodcrafts and furniture, $76.51 million.
Export
earnings from manufactured goods, which included
electronic products, still contributed the largest
amount to total exports.
It
accounted for 83.2 percent of total receipts with $3.530
billion, which was a 1.4-percent increase from $3.483
billion in January 2007.
The NSO
also said earnings from the export of mineral products
reached $184.86 million, or a share of 4.4 percent of
total export revenue. However, this represented a
decline of 2 percent from $188.69 million in January
2007.
Income
from All Agro-Based Products also increased by 100.6
percent to $241.09 million from $120.17 million in
January 2007, which, the NSO said, may be due to
increased coconut-oil shipments.
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.
Meanwhile, total export receipts from the country’s top
10 markets for the said period amounted to $3.675
billion, or 86.7 percent of the total.
The US
remained the country’s top market with export receipts
worth $688.83 million, accounting for 16.2 percent of
the country’s aggregate income for the month. However,
this represented a 1-percent decline from last year’s
reported figure of $695.56 million.
Japan
ranked second with export earnings of $630.74 million,
or a 14.9-percent share of the total exports for January
2008. This represented an increase of 3.9 percent from
$606.87 million in January 2007.
Hong
Kong emerged as the
Philippines’
third-largest export market for January 2008 with
shipments amounting to $552.01 million, or 13 percent of
the total, an increase of 20.7 percent from a year-ago
level of $457.26 million.
Other
top markets for January 2008 were the People’s Republic
of China, $505.16 million; the 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. |
