Exports fall 1.2% in March

MANILA, Philippines - Exports in March fell 1.2 percent to $4.302 billion from the $4.356 billion recorded in the same period last year and by 2.9 percent from $4.430 billion in February, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO).

Aggregate merchandise exports for the first quarter of 2012 rose 4.6 percent to $12.856 billion from the $12.286 billion posted during the same period last year.

The US has dislodged Japan as the top export destination with a 15.5 percent share of the total exports for March, with revenues amounting to $668.25 million, up 9.67 percent from $609.93 million in the same month last year.

Japan, with the same share of 15.5 percent of the export receipts, was the second largest market in March with export earnings of $664.78 million, down 12.6 percent from the $760.73 million reported last year.

China is the third biggest market for outbound shipments with a 14.9 percent share to total exports and revenues amounting to $642.07 million, up 27.8 percent from $502.58 million a year ago.

Exports of electronic products accounted for 52.6 percent of total export revenues in March with total revenues of $2.263 billion, up 1.1 percent from $2.239 billion in March 2011. Month-on-month, however, it fell 3.1 percent from the $2.334 billion posted in February.

Components/devices, which comprised 38.9 percent of the total exports, had the biggest share among the major groups of electronic products with March export earnings of $1.672 billion, down 3.0 percent from $1.724 billion in the same period last year.

Articles of Apparel and Clothing Accessories, making up 3.5 percent of total exports revenue, followed as the second top export sector in March with revenues of $152.28 million, up 2.3 percent from $148.82 million last year.

Woodcrafts and Furniture, comprising 3.5 percent of total exports, posted revenues of $151.30 million, an increase of 6.3 percent from $142.34 million in March 2011.

Outbound shipments of ignition wiring set and other wiring sets used in vehicles, aircrafts and ships consisting only of electrical wiring harness for motor vehicles contributed 2.5 percent to total export receipts. The segment posted earnings of $108.97 million in March, up 13.9 percent from $95.69 million a year ago.

Coconut Oil, including crude and refined, made up 2.1 percent of total exports.

Revenues from the sector reached $89.99 million in March, down 50.9 percent from $183.19 million in March 2011.

Metal Components reaped export revenues of $83.72 million in March, up 22.9 percent from the same period last year; Petroleum Products including refined petroleum products, manufactured from crude petroleum oil imported on consignment basis had earnings of $63.81 million, down by 16.5 percent.

Other products manufactured from materials imported on consignment basis reported export receipts of $52.62 million, up 16.7 percent; bananas (fresh) posted sales of $51.15 million, up by 48.1 percent; and tuna including fresh, frozen, prepared or preserved in airtight containers were billed at $38.33 million, up 56.0 percent.

Total receipts from the top 10 exports reached $3.055 billion, or 71.0 percent of the total exports.

By commodity group, outbound shipments of manufactured goods accounted for 85.5 percent of the export bill with revenues of $3.677 billion, up 3.8 percent from $3.542 billion posted in March 2011.

On a monthly basis, it went down 4.4 percent from $3.844 billion recorded in February.

Revenues from total agro-based products comprising 6.9 percent of total export earnings in March, went down 13.3 to $294.77 million percent from $340.10 million last year.

Month-on-month, it grew by 23.1 percent from $239.38 million in February.

Earnings from mineral products, with a share of 3.1 percent, reached $133.10 million, down 48.7 percent from $259.25 million in March 2011.

Export receipts from special transactions, with a 3.0 percent share in March exports, amounted to $130.09 million, lower 5.1 percent from $137.00 million last year.

Petroleum products, accounting for 1.5 percent share of the total exports revenue in March, fell 16.5 percent to $63.81 million from $76.43 million in the same period last year.

Forest products, with less than 0.1 percent share, grew by 99.6 percent to $3.58 million in March 2012 from $1.79 million in March 2011.