Export prospects hazy but slowly recovering

CEBU, Philippines - Exports are slowly recovering, an official from the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport)–Cebu said yesterday, although prospects for the sector look fuzzy yet.

Philexport-Cebu Executive Director Fred Escalona said that as far as volume is concerned, the Oriental Port and Allied Services Corp. (OPASCOR) already mentioned an increase in terms of twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU). TEU is the measure used for capacity in container transportation.

OPASCOR is the port service provider at the Cebu International Port (CIP).

"In [terms of] value, our exports are slowly recovering," Escalona said.

However, the Philexport official could not yet provide figures on Cebu's export performance for the first few months of the year.

"This is pure gut feel without the numbers," the export official said.

While he said that the exports sector is slowly recovering, "the picture is too fuzzy as yet."

"I am very careful about making predictions right now," he said when asked if he expects the recovery for the rest of the year.

Growth  in first five  months

Based on latest national data, exports grew for a fifth straight month in April amid the recovery in demand abroad.

Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed export receipts growing 12.1 percent to $4.805 billion in April, slower than the 18.1 percent in March but reversing a 3.4 percent contraction in April last year.

Outbound shipments of manufactured goods, which made up 83.4 percent of exports, rose 3.4 percent to $4.006 billion.

Japan was the top destination for Philippine exports in April, even as shipments fell 16.6 percent to $710.03 million.

It was followed by the United States, where exports decreased by 6.7 percent to $653.05 million.

Exports to Hong Kong and People’s Republic of China saw double-digit expansion of 36.8 percent and 26.4 percent, respectively, at $646.86 million and $534.6 million.

In the first four months, exports were recorded at $20.323 billion, up by 15.3 percent from $17.632 billion a year ago, exceeding the 2 percent projection by economic managers for the entire 2017.

Earlier Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said: “Despite global uncertainties, we remain upbeat that the country will sustain the strong performance of export and trade growth recorded in the first quarter."

“For exports, East Asia and the EU remain the top destinations of our products, accounting for 62.3 percent of total export receipts,” he said.

Exports to EU and East Asia grew by 36 percent and 10 percent in April 2017, respectively.

“We aim to deepen our engagement with our neighbors in the Asia-Pacific region to enhance trade and investment links,” said Pernia.

He recognized positive contributions of trade connections and cited China as an example, where merchandise exports increased by 27.7 percent from October 2016 to April 2017 compared with the 7.1 percent decline from January to September 2016. (FREEMAN)