July imports post minimal growth

CEBU, Philippines - The country’s total imported goods for July 2014 amounted to $5.494 billion, a very minimal increase recorded during the same period a year ago. The increase in total imports for this period was due to the positive performance of eight out of the top ten major commodities for the month.  These were: Transport Equipment; Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles; Plastics in Primary and Non-Primary Forms; Iron and Steel; Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials; Organic and Inorganic Chemicals; Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery; and Other Food & Live Animals.

Cumulative imports for January to July 2014 amounted to $36.946 billion and showed a 4.8 percent increase compared with $35.246 billion in the same period of last year.

The balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) for the Philippines in July 2014 registered a deficit of $33 million compared to the $635 million deficit in the same period last year.

Inward shipments of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials were the top imported commodity in July 2014, accounting for 22.6 percent of the aggregate import bill and value amounting to $1.241 billion.  It increased by 20.4 percent over last year's figure of $1.030 billion.

Imports of electronic products ranked second with 20.8 percent share and reported value of $1.142 billion in July 2014.  It went down by 29.8 percent from $1.627 billion in July 2013. Among the major groups of electronic products, Components/Devices (Semiconductors), having the biggest share of 15.6 percent among electronic products, decreased by 35.9 percent from $1.340 billion in July 2013 compared to $858.79 million in July 2014.

Transport equipment placed third with 10.7 percent share to total imports valued at $590.04 million compared from previous year’s level of $386.96 million. It accelerated by 52.5 percent, registering the highest year-on-year change among the top ten imports for July 2014.

Industrial machinery and equipment, contributing 5.0 percent to the total import bill was the country’s fourth top import for the month amounting to $272.13 million.  It went down by 5.3 percent compared to last year’s value of $287.49 million.

Fifth in rank and with 3.1 percent share to the total imports, miscellaneous manufactured articles recorded $172.68 million worth of imports.  It registered a 48.3 percent increase from its year ago level of $116.43 million.

Rounding up the list of the top 10 imports for July 2014 were:  Plastics in Primary and Non-Primary Forms valued at $166.57 million; Iron and Steel, $164.55 million; Other Food and Live Animals, $158.33 million; Organic and Inorganic Chemicals amounting to $131.43 million; and Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery, $114.62 million.

Aggregate payment for the country’s top ten imports for July 2014 reached $4.153 billion or 75.6 percent of the total import bill.

People’s Republic of China remained as the country’s biggest source of imports with 14.2 percent share in July 2014.  Payments were recorded at $781.92 million, an increase of 5.7 percent from $739.48 million in July 2013.   Revenue from country’s exports to China, on the other hand, reached $700.45 million, generating a total trade value of $1.482 billion and $81.48 million trade deficit.

Japan including Okinawa was the second biggest source of imports for July 2014 with 8.5 percent share to the total import bill amounting to $465.47 million;  Taiwan came third, contributing 8.3 percent of the total import bill in July 2014, with import value of $454.93 million; United States of America including Alaska and Hawaii ranked fourth, accounting for 7.5 percent share of the total import bill in July 2014 with a negative growth of 33.6 percent from $618.86 million to $410.67 million in July 2014; fifth in rank was Singapore accounting for 6.4 percent share of the total import bill worth $353.72 million in July 2014 and increased by 12.1 percent from $315.58 million in July 2013.

Other major sources of imports for the month of July 2014 were: Republic of Korea, $352.70 million; Saudi Arabia, $341.13 million; Malaysia, $284.50 million; Indonesia, $279.97 million; and Thailand, $245.52 million.

By economic bloc, East Asia (China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea and Taiwan) was the biggest source of the country’s imports in July 2014 as it accounted for 39.5 percent of the total imports valued at $2.169 billion.  It decreased by 3.0 percent from $2.236 billion in July 2013.  Total exports to member countries of East Asia amounted to $2.963 billion resulting to a total trade of $5.132 billion and a trade surplus of $793.60 million.

Goods imported from ASEAN member countries were valued at $1.304 billion, contributing 23.7 percent share and increased by 16.1 percent from $1.123 billion recorded in July 2013.

Imports from European Union were valued at $609.90 million.  It grew by 11.2 percent compared to a year ago value of $548.46 million.  (Philippine Statistics Authority)