Merchandise exports rise 12.4% in July

MANILA, Philippines - Merchandise goods shipped out of the Philippines grew 12.4 percent in July this year from the same month last year, amid increases posted by electronic products and other commodities, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

The PSA said yesterday the value of the country’s merchandise exports reached $5.461 billion in July this year, higher than the $4.859 billion recorded value in the same month of 2013.

The uptick was seen as outward shipments of electronic products, the country’s top export, rose 2.7 percent to $2.090 billion in July from $2.035 billion last year.

Other commodities which contributed to the higher value of exports were machinery and transport equipment, other mineral products, ignition wiring set and other wiring sets used in vehicles, aircrafts and ships, articles of apparel and clothing accessories, coconut oil,  woodcrafts and furniture, as well as other manufactures.

By country, Japan maintained its position as the top destination for Philippine exports with its 22.2 percent share to total exports for July.

Revenues from exports to Japan climbed 24.4 percent to $1.212 billion in July from the $974.80 million in the previous year.

For the January to July period, the country’s merchandise exports posted an 8.5 percent increase to $35.129 billion in 2014 from $32.374 billion in the same period of 2013.

Socioeconomic planning chief Arsenio Balisacan said yesterday the latest exports result reflects the global trend with major economies such as the US, China and Germany showing signs of recovery from external shocks.

“This suggests that global demand is picking up pace and that our exports sector is slowly gaining momentum,” he said.

Balisacan assured better prospects are seen for the coming months of the year especially for the country’s exports of electronics, garments, intermediate goods as well as agriculture-based products.

While the outlook for the coming months is positive, addressing the country’s power supply is important, Balisacan stressed.

“The expected tightness in the supply of power in the coming months could disrupt industrial production, hurting exports. Additional cost of utilities may also hamper production volumes. This should also be given priority by the government to support the country’s export targets,” he said.

The Export Development Council (EDC) intends to present the proposed Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP), which would contain export targets from 2014 to 2016, to the economic cluster before being submitted to President Aquino.