‘Impact of Baltimore bridge collapse on Philippine exports minimal’

MANILA, Philippines — The collapse of the Baltimore bridge which led to the closure of the Port of Baltimore is expected to have minimal impact on the country’s exports, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)

“Per EMB (Export Marketing Bureau) data, only 0.3 percent of our exports (to the US) in terms of value go through Baltimore,” Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo told The STAR.

He said bulk or 88 percent of Philippine exports to the US goes through California.

Philippine exports that went through the Port of Baltimore last year amounted to $42.60 million, data from the DTI-EMB showed.

In January this year, $3.19 million worth of exports from the Philippines went through the Port of Baltimore.

DTI-EMB director Bianca Sykimte said Philippine products that were exported to Baltimore last year were fish, electric machinery, handbags, apparel, tobacco, furniture, plastics, bakers wares, wood and articles of wood, miscellaneous articles of base metal, miscellaneous edible preparations, organic chemicals and prep vegetables, fruits, nuts and other plant parts.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland in the US collapsed last Tuesday after a cargo ship crashed into one of its pillars, resulting in the blocking of the Port of Baltimore.

Earlier, Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines president Robert Young said the collapse of the Baltimore bridge is expected to lead to delays in the group’s apparel exports to chain stores and end buyers in the US.

He said an estimated $150 million worth of apparel exports from the Philippines to the US are expected to be delayed due to the incident.

In addition to delayed shipments, the incident could also lead to higher shipping costs, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort also said.

As shipping costs increase, he said such could lead to higher import prices, on top of the earlier effects of the disruptions in the Red Sea area that led to longer shipping routes and higher shipping costs for the Asia-Europe shipping or trade route.

Philippine exports to the US reached $11.54 billion in 2023, accounting for 15.7 percent of total exports, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Meanwhile, goods imported by the Philippines from the US amounted to $8.41 billion last year or 6.7 percent of total imports.