Exports stay weak; down 5.6% in 11-mo

MANILA, Philippines – Weak economies of trade partners continued to batter the Philippines’ merchandise exports, one of the main dollar earners, with the first 11-months of 2011 posting a 5.6% contraction of $44.64 billion, the statistics office said.

On Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, the National Statistics Office reported that export receipts in November 2011 remained weak with a 19.4% decline.

The Philippines has experienced consecutive declines in the annual growth rate of its exports since May 2011.

The slump in demand for electronic products, which account for 45.8% of Philippines’ total exports, continued to pull down the performance of the sector. During the period, it declined by a massive 34.5% to $1.529 billion.

Minerals exported by mining companies, however, increased 18% to $191.19 million.

East Asia countries remained the main export destinations of products from the Philippines. The neighbors accounted for 52% of the total exports in November, higher than those shipped to the United States and European Union member countries.

The top 10 export markets for November 2011 were:

• Japan – 21.6% share in total exports; up 8.1% to $722 million
• US – 15% share; up 2.5% to $488.69 million
• China – 13.7% share; down 30%  to $457.84 million
• Hong Kong – 7.1% share; down 42% to $236.36 million
• South Korea – 5.6% share; up 25% to $187.59 million
• Singapore – up 5.5% to $184.86 million;
• Taiwan – up 3.9% to $130.78 million
• Germany – up 3.6% to $121.99 million
• Thailand – up 3.1% to $103.10 million
• Netherlands – up 2.5% to $85.02 million

These markets were the destination of 81.7%, or $2.731 billion worth, of total exports. – Rappler.com