PH export growth outperforms China, jumps 15.7% in Sept

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine merchandise exports grew by 15.7% in September, surpassing China’s 15.3%, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) reported on Tuesday, November 11.

Other Asian countries registered the following merchandise exports growth for the same period: Vietnam (14.4%), Republic of Korea (6.9%), Taiwan (4.7%), Indonesia (3.9%), Thailand (3.2%), Malaysia (3%), and Hong Kong (1%).

Japan and Singapore posted negative growth at -1.2% and -1.6%, respectively.

Despite the slower pace of recovery in the global economy, the country’s September 2014 merchandise exports performance hints at a positive mood across some markets, at least for the country’s top trading partners such as China, Singapore, Germany, South Korea, Thailand, and The Netherlands.

The Philippines’ export performance for the last two quarters of 2014 registered remarkably despite slower growth in July at 12.4% and 10.5% in August.

From a peak of 21.3% in June 2014, the latest merchandise export growth signals the rebound of the exports sector, even surpassing most economies in the region during the period, said NEDA officer-in-charge and deputy director-general Rolando G. Tungpalan.

Total revenues from exports rose to $5.8 billion from $5.1 billion in September 2013, attributed to an increase in overseas sales of manufactures, petroleum, and forest products.

Total export revenues, meanwhile, increased to $46.6 billion or by 9.9% from $42.4 billion in the same period in 2013.

Revenue earners

Manufactured products registered its highest year-on-year revenue growth in 2014 at 19.7% to reach $5 billion from $4.2 billion in September 2013.

Strong gains from machinery and transport products and the continued solid expansion of electronics exports, especially in semiconductors and electronic data processing, supported the continuing merchandise exports growth.

Worth noting are the higher outward shipment of chemical products and the resurgence of coconut oil exports, Tungpalan said.

Seen as an emerging important revenue earner, chemical products posted a 94.6% increase in export volume to China, India, Japan, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, and Taiwan, which accounted for more than 90% of the country’s total export volume of chemicals during the period.

Exports of chemical products also has an increased market share to total exports, from 3% in 2010 to 5% in 2013.

For September 2014, chemical products contributed 7.2 percentage points to exports growth alone, Tungpalan said, adding that these developments largely reflect the upbeat condition of global manufacturing activity.

Meanwhile, outward shipment for petroleum products was higher by 53.2% to $83.8 million in September 2014 from $54.7 million in the same month in 2013.

Also, higher external demand for logs and lumber increased revenues from forest products by 21.4%, amounting to $8.22 million in September 2014 from $6.77 million in the same period in 2013.

Positive gains to continue

Total exports is expected to continue its positive gains for the rest of 2014 owing to the holiday season.

The Japanese and US markets will also likely boost Philippine exports for the remaining months given the recent optimism building up in the Japanese manufacturing sector and the broad-based expansion in industrial production in the US, Tungpalan said.

Japan remains as the country’s top export market accounting for 29.6% of the total revenue from merchandise exports during the period.

The USA came second with a 13.6% share, followed by China with 10.5%.

In terms of regional destination, outward shipment to East Asia (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Macau, Mongolia, and North Korea) comprised 56.3% of the country’s total exports.

This is followed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member-countries with 13.9% share, and the European Union with 10.4%. – Rappler.com