Export Growth

Total merchandise exports in October 2009 grew by 0.7 percent from the previous month, amounting to $3.7 billion from September’s $3.6 billion, preliminary reports from the National Statistics Office showed.

Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director-General Augusto B. Santos said in his memorandum to the President the increase in exports revenues was supported by growth in agro-based and mineral products.

Year-on-year, merchandise exports dropped by 8.3 percent in October 2009 but “the registered contraction is so far the smallest since October last year when merchandise exports started posting year-on-year declines”, the NEDA chief said.

“Moreover, this is a considerable improvement from the largest decline of exports growth in January 2009 of 40.6 percent,” Santos said.

Meanwhile, for January to October 2009, receipts from merchandise exports amounted to US$31.3 billion, 27.0 percent lower than the same period in 2008.

The NSO reported that outbound shipments of total agro-based products increased by 10.2 percent in October 2009 compared to the previous month, on account of the continued improvement in major agro-based products (13.8%). Coconut products and sugar, which posted hefty growth rates of 17.5 percent and 71.6 percent, respectively, offset the 7.2 percent decline in fruits and vegetables and the 0.8 percent decline in other agro-based products.

Also, mineral products reversed its decline from the previous month and posted a hefty 103.7 percent growth in October 2009 chiefly due to the increase in copper metal (363.1%) exports.

While manufactured goods declined by 2.1 percent from September 2009 as semiconductors, the biggest contributor to the country’s export receipts, went down by 10.0 percent in October 2009, Santos said that “improvements in the following months are expected”.

He added “the Semiconductor Industry Association is optimistic on the prospects of the semiconductor industry in 2010 and 2011, forecasting that sales will improve by 10.2 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively”.

The US remained the Philippines’ biggest export destination in October 2009 with an 18.0 percent share in the value of the total outward shipments for the month. On a month-on-month basis, exports to the US rose by 1.9 percent in October, owing to the 16.5 percent growth of semiconductor shipments to the country. Santos noted that “this reflects the gradual recovery of the global electronics industry in the recent months”.

Japan was the second biggest export destination with a 16.4 percent share. Other major export markets in October were the Netherlands (13.1%), Germany (7.4%), and Hong Kong (7.4%), Total shipments to PR China, Hong Kong SAR, and Taiwan ROC comprised 15.7 percent of the total export earnings in October 2009. Exports to the rest of ASEAN covered 14.8 percent of the value of the total outward cargo.

Semiconductors, electronic data processing machine, and other electronics were the top exports to the five major markets in October, accounting for 66.7 percent of the value of the total shipments to the said countries.

Santos said in his memorandum that Indonesia and Malaysia led the region with positive gains both month-on-month and year-on-year.

Indonesia’s exports for October 2009 surged by 20.7 percent from the preceding month while year-on year, it rebounded to 10.1 percent. “Their recovery may be traced to significant increases in the export of electrical machinery, sound recording equipment, television, and rubber,” he said.

Malaysia’s exports performed strongly in October, growing by 15.0 percent month-on-month and 1.6 percent year-on-year. “This growth originated from higher exports of electrical and electronic products, crude petroleum, liquefied natural gas, wood products, optical and scientific equipment, metal manufactures,” Santos pointed out.