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INCREASED shipments of electronics products and coconut
oil boosted the country’s export earnings by 10.5
percent in October this year, according to the latest
data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO).
This is the second time since January
this year when Philippine exports posted a double-digit
growth. Export earnings for October was at $4.648
billion from $4.207 billion in October 2006.
“This may be due to the increase in the
outward shipments of coconut oil and electronics
products ,particularly the components/devices
[semiconductors] and consumer electronics,” the NSO said
in a statement.
Compared with the previous month’s
level, the NSO said the country’s export revenue grew by
6.3 percent from P4.373 billion.
“It’s better than expected. This is
definitely going to boost or have a positive impact on
the country’s gross domestic product [GDP] growth rate
this year. I guess GDP may hit 7 percent or just below 7
percent by year-end,” University of the Philippines
economist Ernesto Pernia said in a phone interview.
However, Pernia said that though the
10.5-percent increase in export earnings in October is
high, it is still not enough to get a double-digit
increase in total exports by year-end.
Furthermore, the real impact of
October’s high export figure can be seen as positive if
the trade deficit in the same month would be reduced.
“The proof of the pudding is in the trade deficit,”
Pernia said.
While the biggest increase in growth was
recorded in coconut oil at 128.4 percent and petroleum
products at 43.1 percent, electronics still accounted
for the bulk of the country’s export earnings.
The NSO said that 61.8 percent of the
aggregate export revenue in October 2007 was contributed
by electronics products which rose 9.4 percent to $2.873
billion from $2.627 billion in October 2006. Compared
with the previous month’s level, an increase of 8.2
percent from P2.656 billion in September 2007 was noted.
“The year-on-year growth is due to the
increase in the outward shipments of all electronic
products, except for electronic data processing,
telecommunication and communication/radar,” the NSO
said.
Meanwhile, despite its continued decline
in the total exports, Articles of Apparel and Clothing
Accessories is still the country’s second top earner
with a combined share of 4 percent in total exports.
Articles of Apparel and Clothing Accessories increased
by 18.8 percent to $187.93 million, from $231.33 million
in October 2006.
Cathodes and Section of Cathodes of
Refined Copper ranked third with a total revenue of
$152.47 million, an increase of 17.0 percent from
$130.30 million in October 2006; and Coconut Oil, which
ranked fourth, posted sales of $107.92 million, or a
growth of 128.4 percent from $47.26 million in October
2006.
The fifth top export contributor are
Petroleum Products, which posted a 43.1-percent growth
to $99.08 million in 2007 from $69.22 million in October
2006. This is due to the increase in the shipments of
other fuel oils.
Meanwhile, manufactured goods accounted
for 84 percent of the total receipts. It grew 7.5
percent to $3.905 billion from $3.634 billion in October
2006.
Agro-Based Products held a 5.2-percent
share of the total export earnings and generated a
combined income of $243.43 million, up by 51 percent
from $161.26 million in October 2006, due to the
increase in the shipments of coconut oil.
Earnings from Mineral Products reached
$270.43 million, or a 5.8-percent share of the total
export revenue, recording a 25.9-percent increase from
$214.88 million in October 2006. Petroleum Products
increased by 43.1 percent to $99.08 million from $69.22
million in October 2006.
Export receipts of Special Transactions
posted an increase of 1.7 percent to $128.05 million
from $125.87 million in October 2006; and exports
revenue of Forest Products went down by 16.2 percent to
$1.82 million from $2.18 million in October 2006.
Meanwhile, total export receipts from
the country’s top 10 markets for October 2007 amounted
to $3.949 billion, or 85 percent of the total.
The United States remained the country’s
largest export market and accounted for 17.7 percent
of total export earnings in October. Exports to the
US
amounted to $820.62 million, up by 3.2 percent from
$795.56 million in October 2006.
The second-largest export market of the
Philippines
was still Japan, which accounted for 14 percent of total
exports, this, despite a decline of 3.4 percent in
export receipts. Exports to
Japan
amounted to $649.65 million from $672.14 million in
October 2006.
Hong Kong emerged as the third- biggest
market for the month with shipments of $595.32 million,
or 12.8 percent of total exports; while the People’s
Republic of China ranked fourth with $576.66 million, or
12.4 percent of total export earnings.
Other top markets for October 2007 were
the Netherlands, $355.99 million; Singapore, $267.28
million; Malaysia, $238.14 million; Germany, $183.46
million; Republic of Korea, $138.92 million; and Taiwan,
$122.47 million. |
