April imports surge 45.3% to $4.441 billion

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s merchandise imports recorded a double-digit growth of 45.3 percent to $4.441 billion in April from $3.057 billion a year ago due to the surge in demand for locally-made electronic products, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported yesterday.

April’s annual import growth was a reversal of the 37.1-percent decline in 2009. It was faster than March’s annual growth of 38.9 percent.

However, compared to March’s total import bill of $4.543, imports in April were down 2.2 percent.

For the first four months of the year, total imports went up 35.7 percent to $17.175 billion from $12.656 billion last year. Similarly, merchandise exports went up 39.1 percent to $14.925 billion from $10.730 billion during the four-month period.

“Growth was broad-based as all the major sectors buoyed the increase in inward shipments. Raw materials and intermediate goods led the rise with a 54.7- percent growth rate, followed by capital goods (47.3 percent), mineral fuels and lubricants (35.6 percent), and consumer goods (29.8 percent),” said Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Augusto B. Santos.

The Philippines posted a trade deficit of $2.250 billion for January to April, higher than the $1.926 billion deficit in the same period of 2009.

Purchases of the country’s main import item, electronics, surged 63.7 percent to $1.514 billion from $924.74 million last year. Electronics accounted for 34.1 percent of the aggregate import revenue.

The surge in electronics bodes well for exports in coming months as these products are reassembled for shipment later.

Imports of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials in April ranked second with 17.2 percent share and posted a positive growth of 35.6 percent to $762.79 million over the previous year’s level of $562.67 million.

“The increase in imports of petroleum crude was partly due to the Dubai oil price which went up by 66.8 percent to $83.59 per barrel in April 2010,” Santos said.

Cereals and cereal preparations, was the the country’s third top imports for the month with 6.5 percent share to total imports at $290.40 million. 

Transport equipment, contributing 4.9 percent to the total import bill, was the fourth top import for the month with payments placed at $219.19 million, up 70.5 percent from last year’s $128.54 million. It 

Fifth in rank and with 4.6 percent share to the total imports, industrial machinery and equipment recorded $206.00 million worth of imports, higher by 93.9 percent from its year ago level of $106.21 million.

Organic and inorganic chemicals ranked sixth, comprising 2.8 percent of the total imports registered at $125.41 million, rose by 28.5 percent from its year ago level of $97.62 million.

Rounding up the list of the top 10 imports for April   were iron and steel accounting for $113.18 million, plastics in primary and non-primary forms amounting to $88.20 million grew by 58.7 percent; telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery (including telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment), $75.53 million was up by 63.8 percent; and medicinal and pharmaceutical products, $73.01 million,up increased by 18.2 percent.

Japan remained the country’s largest source of imports in April, recording payments worth $561.61 million, 12.7 percent of the total bill. This was a 42.9 percent increase from the Arpil 2009 level of $3393.13 million.

The United States came in second with $480.76 million or a 10.8 percent share of the import bill, followed by Singapore ($445.15 million), China ($355.28 million), and Thailand ($284.13 million).

The central bank expects imports to grow 18 percent this year and in 2011.

Apart from electronic parts, the Philippines’ other top imports are fuel, electrical and industrial machinery, transport equipment, iron, steel and textiles. – abs.cbnNEWS.com