Exports up 4.9% in April to $4.3B

06/11/2008

Merchandise export receipts rose by 4.9 percent in April from a year earlier to $4.325 billion despite a slump in the country’s key electronics sector, the government said yesterday.

Total exports in the four months to April reached $16.86 billion, up 3.29 percent from the same period in 2007, the National Statistics Office said in a statement.

The April figure compares with a 6.6 percent drop in exports in March.

Exports of electronics, which accounted for 58.2 percent of total overseas shipments in April, suffered a 1.7-percent decline to $2.519 billion compared to the same period last year, the office said.

This was attributed to a slowdown in overseas demand for such products as components and semiconductors.

Apparel and clothing accessories, the country’s second largest export category, suffered a decline of 5.9 percent to $163.16 million.

However, other export sectors like coconut oil, petroleum products, furniture, ignition wiring sets, and gold and metal components all enjoyed increases in April.

The United States remained the biggest buyer of Philippine exports, receiving $691.3 million worth or 16 percent of the total in April, the statistics office said.

Japan was second in April with $664.5 million or 15.4 percent of the total. China, Hong Kong, South Korea and the Netherlands were the other top export markets.

The low export growth was blamed on the economic slowdown in the United States, the country’s main export market.

“It’s kind of an export slowdown, given that the US may be in a recession,” said Allan Araullo of Regina Capital Development Corp.

April Lee Tan of Citiseconline said the trade position would not likely improve in the coming months, saying “the US economy doesn’t look good so the sustainability of an improvement in exports is not likely.”

Furthermore, the country’s trade deficit will grow as the import bill increases due to rising prices of oil and rice, she added.

Araullo said exports could still make a recovery in the fourth quarter, if the US economy starts growing again as some economists predict.

He also said commodities exports like coconut oil and gold were compensating for the weakness in the electronics sector.

“Commodities could explain why we are still up (in exports) despite electronics being down. There is a commodities boom,” he said. AFP

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