The Philippines emerged as the best performer in Southeast Asia and East Asia in terms of merchandise exports in September, after posting a 15.7-percent growth for the month.
“The country’s export performance for the last two quarters of 2014 culminated remarkably despite slower growth in July [12.4 percent] and in August [10.5 percent]. From a peak of 21.3 percent in June 2014, the latest merchandise export-growth outturn signals the rebound of the exports sector, even surpassing most economies in the region during the period,” National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Deputy Director General Rolando G. Tungpalan said.
The Philippines outperformed China (15.3 percent); Vietnam (14.4 percent); Republic of Korea (6.9 percent); Taiwan (4.7 percent); Indonesia (3.9 percent); Thailand (3.2 percent); Malaysia (3.0 percent); and Hong Kong (1.0 percent).
Japan (-1.2 percent) and Singapore (-1.6 percent) saw negative growth.
The Philippines’s total revenues from merchandise exports in September amounted to $5.8 billion, up from the $5.1 billion registered in September 2013. This is due to the increased sales of manufactures, petroleum and forest products.
To date, total merchandise export revenues reached $46.6 billion, an increase of 9.9 percent from the nine-month total of $42.4 billion in 2013.
Tungpalan said outward shipments of manufactured products reached $5 billion in September, or a 19.7-percent growth from the $4.2 billion in revenues from manufactures in September 2013.
“Supporting this growth are the strong gains from machinery and transport products, as well as the continued solid expansion of electronics exports, especially in semiconductors and electronic data processing. Worth noting are the higher outward shipments of chemical products and the resurgence of coconut oil exports,” Tungpalan said.
Tungpalan said despite the slower pace of recovery in the global economy, the September 2014 merchandise exports performance hints of a positive mood across some markets, or at least for the country’s top trading partners such as China, Singapore, Germany, South Korea, Thailand and the Netherlands.
“Overall, total exports is expected to continue to post positive gains during the remaining months of the year owing to the holiday season. The Japanese and the US markets will likely boost Philippine exports for the remaining months given the recent optimism building up in the Japanese manufacturing sector and the broad-based expansion in industrial production in the US,” Tungpalan said.
Japan remains as the country’s top export market, accounting for 29.6 percent of the Philippines’s total revenue from merchandise exports in September. The US is second with a share of 13.6 percent, followed by China with 10.5 percent.
Image credits: AP/Ng Han Guan