Imports down 0.4% in Aug

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine merchandise imports continued to decline in August from a year ago due to lower purchases of transport equipment, industrial machinery equipment and other goods, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported.

The NSO said yesterday total imports for August went down by 0.4 percent to $5.057 billion from $5.076 billion in the same month last year.

“The decline in import payments can be traced to low purchases in goods such as plastic in primary and non-primary forms; industrial machinery and equipment; telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery; iron and steel; and transport equipment,” the statistics agency said.

Imports in July fell 0.8 percent to $4.963 billion from a year ago.

Compared to July, August imports rose 1.9 percent.

Cumulative imports in the January to August period went up slightly 0.1 percent to $40.769 billion compared to last year.

Electronic products, which account for 29.1 percent of the aggregate import bill expanded 5.7 percent to $1.473 billion from the previous year.

Semiconductors, which had the biggest share among major groups of electronic products, grew 11.2 percent to $1.162 billion from last year.

Import bill payments for mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials increased 1.8 percent to $1.003 billion compared to the same month a year ago.

Imports of transport equipment meanwhile, declined 3.4 percent to $294.17 million from last year.

Purchases of industrial machinery and equipment from overseas likewise dropped 6.5 percent to $250.89 million from the previous year.

The NSO said the United States of America (USA) was the biggest source of Philippine imports in August, accounting for 11.7 percent valued at $594.15 million, a 22.4 percent increase from last year.

“The increase in the inward purchases from USA includes payments for commodities like telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery, materials/accessories for the manufacture of electrical equipment and feeding stuffs for animals,” it said.