November imports up slightly

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines’ total imports went up slightly in November from a year ago due to the growth posted by five major commodity groups, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

The statistics agency said the country imported goods worth $5.235 billion in November 2013, up 0.5 percent from $5.208 billion in thesame month in 2012.

Compared to October’s imports which were valued at $4.824 billion, the latest result rose by 8.5 percent.

“The growth was brought by five major commodity groups with positive year-on-year change and these were: transport equipment; iron and steel; telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery; medicinal and pharmaceutical products; and plastics in primary and non-primary forms,” the PSA said.

Minerals, fuels, lubricants and related materials were the top imported commodity for the month with its 23.4-percent share valued at $1.223 billion in November, 3.5 percent lower than the $1.268 billion in the same month in 2012.

Imported electronic products which got the second biggest share of total imports at 22 percent, also declined 8.7 percent to$1.152 billion in November 2013 compared to the $1.262 billion imported in November 2012.

In terms of source of imports, the PSA said the People’s Republic of China remained on the top spot with its 12.8-percent share.

Payments for imports from China amounted to $671.12 million in November, 14.6 percent higher than the $585.38 million in the same month a year ago.

Cumulative imports for the 11-month period reached $56.418 billion, down slightly from the $56.828 billion in the same period in 2012.

Total external trade in goods in November reached $9.527 billion, representing an eight-percent increase from $8.819 billion recorded during the same month in 2012.

This, as both imports and exports climbed year-on-year.

The country’s merchandise exports grew 18.9 percent to $4.292 billion in November last year from the $3.611 billion registered in the same month in 2012.

The balance of trade in goods for the country in November 2013 registered a lower deficit of $944 million from the $1.597-million deficit in the same month in 2012.