RP exports up 8.9% to $2.97-B in April

The country’s merchandise exports went up by 8.9 percent to $2.97 billion in April from $2.726 billion in the same period last year as a result of a strong global demand for locally-made electronic products, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported yesterday.

Analysts, however, said that despite growing exports, the country trails many of its neighbors in taking advantage of a global rebound in demand. Thailand’s exports rose 21 percent in April from a year earlier, Malaysia’s by 23.2 percent and Singapore’s by 15.1 percent.

"The growth was dismal given the low base last year," market analyst Forecaster.com said in a note. "On a month-on-month basis, exports fell a whopping 11.4 percent."

In March, exports were 7.1 percent higher than a year earlier at $3.35 billion.

Electronic shipments, accounting for two-thirds of total exports, were up 4.2 percent in April from a year earlier at $1.963 billion.

Apparel and clothing remained the country’s second top earner, but were down 2.7 percent at $136.57 million. Coconut oil was the third bigger dollar earner.

Economic and Planning Secretary Romulo Neri said that to make garments more competitive, producers will have to move up market and become more competitive.

"To make garments competitive, manufacturers would have to move to the upper end of the market, which entails more craftsmanship. Since tariffs on imported textiles are kept low, the domestic textile sector also needs to become more competitive, "said Neri.

Japan remained the country’s largest export market in April, accounting for 17.4 percent of the total or $516.83 million, up 26.9 percent from the pervious year. The US followed with a 16.3 percent share or $483.15 million, down from 9.7 percent.

"So far, the positive outweighs the negative," said Cecilia Tanchoco, an economist at Bank of the Philippine Islands.

"Exports should benefit from growth were seeing in the US and Japan. But the potential to grow much stronger from these factors might be tempered by cost pressures," she added.

Unicapital Securities economist Erico Claudio said exports were showing signs of recovery, which could be sustained in the coming months if the country is able to attract new investments.

"The overall growth is still led by electronics, although growth in that sector is considered to be not really strong as in previous months," Claudio said.

He said he is optimistic that the government will be able to meet its full-year export growth target of 10 percent.