NEDA sees sustained growth of agri exports

MANILA, Philippines - The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) believes the growth of agriculture exports may be sustained with the opening up of new markets for sugar and bananas.

NEDA deputy director general Emmanuel Esguerra said the Philippines could take advantage of the demand in the United States (US), Russia, China, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, and India, which are among the major importers of raw (cane) sugar.

In March, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) earlier announced that state-owned Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC) identified export opportunities for refined and raw sugar in India, South Korea, Indonesia and the Middle East.

The government is still coordinating with buyers on their specific requirements.

Esguerra noted that the exportation of bananas to the US market is also a good development for Philippine agriculture exports.

An initial shipment of 3,000 metric tons to the US was targeted for April 2013, according to the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).

“This is also in line with the US Department of Agriculture’s announcement that allows Philippine highland Cavendish bananas to be shipped to their country,” said Esguerra.

The National Statistics Office (NSO) reported that exports of centrifugal and refined sugar and bananas grew by 27,094.6 percent and 95.5 percent year-on-year in February 2013, respectively.

This made total agro-based exports rise by 43.7 percent, amounting to $343.9 million in February 2013.

The NEDA official stressed that to be able to take advantage of increasing regional and global integration, there is a need to expedite the implementation of necessary programs and policies to improve the competitiveness of Philippine exports.

“No doubt the exporters have been affected negatively by the strong peso, but this can be overcome by the positive impact resulting from better infrastructure, efficient logistics, lower power costs, and other measures to reduce the cost of doing business,” said Esguerra.

The country’s agricultural trade deficit in 2012 widened by 29.51 percent to $3.1 billion against $2.4 billion in 2011 on lower world market prices of exported commodities and higher prices of several imported commodities.

Data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) showed the trade deficit was widest in May at $332.94 million.

Agricultural exports earnings in 2012 made up 9.62 percent of the country’s total export earnings of $51.9 billion for the year, reaching $5 billion. This was down by 7.88 percent from $5.4 billion in 2011.

The highest record of earnings from agricultural exportation in 2012 was seen in December at $547.60 million, while the lowest was seen in August at $226.06 million.

Export earnings from the country’s top 10 agricultural exports fell by 15.24 percent in 2012 to $3.38 million from $3.99 billion in 2011.