Exports up 10.5% to $5.474 B in Aug

MANILA, Philippines - Earnings from Philippine merchandise exports posted a 10.5 percent increase in August from a year ago on the back of the strong performance of electronic products.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the country’s merchandise exports were valued at $5.474 billion in August this year, higher than the $4.956 billion posted in August last year.

The growth was seen as electronic products, which accounted for the bulk or 41.6 percent of total receipts, grew 10 percent to $2.277 billion in August this year from the previous year’s $2.070 billion.

Aside from electronic products, other commodity groups that contributed to the positive performance of exports in August were coconut oil; articles of apparel and clothing accessories; machinery and transport equipment; ignition wiring set and other wiring sets used in vehicles, aircraft and ships; other mineral products; metal components, and chemicals.

The PSA noted that Japan continued to be the country’s top destination of exports with its 19.1 percent share.

Revenues from exports to Japan, however, declined 15.3 percent to $1.044 billion in August this year from the $1.234 billion posted in the same month last year.

For the eight month period, the country’s merchandise exports registered a 9.2 percent increase to $40.748 billion this year from $37.330 billion recorded in the same period in 2013.

National Economic and Development Authority deputy director general Emmanuel Esguerra said the double-digit growth of exports for the month is likely to be sustained.

“This expectation is primarily anchored on increasing global demand alongside business expansions and new product launches for garments and information technology sectors as well as improved availability of raw materials and agricultural products. Moving forward, export revenue growth is likely to be driven by the rebound in the export of electronic products, machinery and transport and other electronics,” he said.

As there is increasing global demand, Esguerra said the government and private sector need to work together to diversify markets for exports within the Southeast Asian region.

“The government, on the other hand, should be prepared to craft measures to protect vulnerable sectors in the event of economic shocks in the global market. As outlined in the PDP (Philippine Development Plan) Midterm Update and reflected in the Philippine Export Development Plan 2014-2016, policy strategies should be linked to governance reforms, supply chain improvement, infrastructure support and product diversification and innovation in order to sustain exports growth,” he said.

For his part, Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. president Sergio Ortiz-Luis, Jr. said the group is upbeat total merchandise exports for the year would grow 10 percent.

“One of the reasons we are confident we will achieve 10 percent is that the semiconductor sector is doing well,” he said.

He added that the seasonal increase in demand in the last quarter of the year is also expected to bring up exports this year.

The country’s merchandise exports reached $53.978 billion last year.