MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Philippine merchandise exports expanded at its fastest pace in 11 months as it surged to $4.581 billion in August as outward shipments of various commodity groups jumped from the previous year, the Philippines' National Statistics Office (NSO) said today.
The latest data from the office showed that the value of exports in August went up to $4.581 billion, an increase of 20.2 percent from the $3.81 billion recorded in the same time last year.
The NSO said that the positive growth was mainly brought by the increase of seven major commodities out of the top 10 export commodities of the Philippines for the month.
The value of outward shipments of petroleum products registered the highest increase among the top 10 export commodities, as it jumped by 115,375 percent to $95.95 million in August, from the $0.08 million in the same time last year.
Other products which supported the jump in total exports in August are other mineral products (455 percent growth), bananas (266 percent), chemicals (121 percent), woodcrafts and furniture (69 percent), other manufactures (66 percent), and ignition wiring set and other wiring sets used in vehicles, aircrafts, and ships (12.2 percent).
"The export of petroleum products is another unexpected export driver. (This) shows that the export basket of the Philippines has more potential growth drivers other than electronics," said Cid Terosa, economist at the University of Asia and the Pacific.
The data also showed that electronic products, which remain as the country's top export product, saw a decline of 0.4 percent to $1.785 billion in August.Exports of machinery and transport equipment as well as metal components also went down by 58 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
Despite the jump in the August exports, the value of external shipments for the first eight months of the year still registered a decline of 0.8 percent to $35.003 billion from the $35.297 billion in the same period in 2012.