Feb exports post biggest fall in 14 mos

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The country’s merchandise exports fell 15.6% in February 2013, their steepest fall in one year and two months, due to weak demand for electronics, according to data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Wednesday, April 10.

Export revenues reached $3.741 billion during the month, down from $4.430 billion in February 2012. The decline was the biggest since December 2011, when exports contracted 18.9%.

In a statement, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the double-digit decline in exports in February was largely due to the weak global demand. He said the government expects exports to be sluggish in the first half of 2013. 

Balisacan said, however, that the government sees export revenues improving in the coming months. “Signs of economic rebounds are expected following the easing in contraction of industrial production in high-income economies.”

However, global bank HSBC expressed its concern that the decline in electronic exports could be an indicator that the Philippines is losing its competitiveness in semiconductors. 

HSBC said in a statement that the first two months of the year showed electronics declining by more than 30%. The bank said apart from high base effects, the decline is also due to factors that are causing the Philippines’ trade performance to deteriorate.

“The Philippines is losing competitiveness in electronic exports and this is affecting total export growth. The negative export growth prints for January and February, coupled with benign inflation in March, suggests that the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) has room to further ease the SDA (Special Deposit Account) rate at the April meeting,” HSBC said.

Electronics shipments — which accounted for 39.7% of total export receipts — declined significantly by 36.5%. Electronics export revenues only reached $1.483 billion in February 2013, against $2.334 billion in February 2012.

The NSO noted the double-digit decline in electronics exports was also the steepest since October 2011, when revenues from this export group fell 36.6%.

The latest data brought total exports in the first two months of 2013 to $7.752 billion, down 9.4% from $8.554 billion in 2012.

Top markets

The 3 top export markets of the Philippines in February were

• Japan, $705.93 million (down 11.4%; 18.9% of total exports) 
• United States, $594.90 million (down 13.5%; 15.9% share) 
• China, $380.76 million (down 35.4%; 10.2% share)

“The export items to Japan consist mainly of wood manufactures, semiconductors, fresh bananas, sugar, and other manufactures,” the NSO said. 

Shipments to the US, on the other hand, consisted mostly of semiconductors, coconut oil, other manufactures, and sugar. 

Merchandise goods shipped to China consisted of electronics, other mineral products, and fresh bananas. – Rappler.com