SHIPMENTS: Outbound shipments of Philippine goods fell for a fourth consecutive month in July, with eight out of the 10 major commodities recording declines, though the overall result was propped up by strong numbers posted by electronics, the government reported this morning.
Preliminary data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed merchandise export receipts fell by 1.82% year on year to $5.327 billion, compared with an 11.66% gain a year earlier. The July decline was deeper than the 1.79% fall in June. The April and May contractions were 4.1% and 17.4%, respectively. For the first seven months of the year, exports fell 4.1% year-on-year to $34.214 billion.
“The negative growth was mainly brought about by the decrease of eight major commodities out of the top 10 commodities for the month. These include other mineral products; machinery & transport equipment; articles of apparel and clothing accessories; metal components; chemicals; coconut oil; ignition wiring set and other wiring sets used in vehicles, aircraft and ships; and other manufactures,” the PSA said in a statement.
Receipts from other mineral products dropped 66.6% to $119.28 million. Export earnings from machinery and transport equipment and articles of apparel and clothing accessories also fell by 55.2% and 37.3%, respectively.
By way of contrast, receipts from electronic products — which accounted for 52.9% of total export earnings — grew 34.6% year-on-year to $2.818 billion. Semiconductors, which comprise the biggest share of electronic exports at 42.2%, surged 55.0% to $2.247 billion.
Manufactured goods — a category that encompasses electronic products, machinery and transport equipment, garments, chemicals, as well as processed food and beverages, among others — were the top exported products, comprising 86.6% of total shipments. Export earnings from these goods rose 4.3% to $4.614 billion.
Exports to Japan — the Philippines’ top export market accounting for 19.3% of total export receipts — decreased 14.6% to $1.031 billion. Shipments to China, the country’s second largest market, rose 24.1% to $867.94 million while exports to the US increased by 0.4% to $787.94 million.
