TEN countries provided 77 percent of all imports that
reached the Philippines in December 2017, led by China (18.9 percent), Korea
(10.7 percent), and Japan (9.5 percent); combined, the top 10 countries’ bill
reached US$6.77 billion. Raw materials and intermediate goods made up nearly 36
percent of Philippine imports (and cost $3.13 billion) For a third month in a
row, the Philippines imported more than it exported in December 2017.
Export receipts dropped by nearly five percent to US$4.72
billion last Christmas, from $4.97 billion in December 2016. Imports, however,
shot up by 17.6 percent to $8.74 billion last December, from $7.43 billion in
the same month the year before.
The country’s trade deficit amounted to $4.02 billion at the
end of the year, higher than the $2.47 billion in December 2016, according to
preliminary figures released Friday by the Philippine Statistics Authority
(PSA).
The report showed increased exports of gold, refined copper
cathodes, machinery or transport equipment, and electronic equipment or parts.
But exports of coconut oil, ignition wiring sets, other manufactured goods, and
metal components dropped in December 2017 from the same month in 2016.
“Electronic products
continued to be the country’s top export with total earnings of $2.86 billion,
accounting for 60.6 percent share of the total exports revenue in December
2017,” the PSA report. Electronics exports were also 15 percent higher in
December 2017 than in December 2016. Among electronic products, semiconductors
accounted for 45.6 percent and earned the country some $2.15 billion in
December 2017. That was nearly 19 percent more than the amount of
semiconductors exported in December 2016.
Yet electronic
products were also the country’s top import, and the bill for that reached
$8.74 billion last December, up by 17.6 percent from December 2016. In terms of
imports, the Philippines bought more mineral fuels, electronic products,
telecommunication equipment, iron and steel, transport equipment, plastics, and
industrial machinery in December 2017. Raw materials and intermediate goods
represented 35.8 percent of total imports, the largest share.
More capital goods
Capital goods imports also went up in December 2017 to $2.89
billion or about 33 percent of all imports. That was 8.4 percent more than the
amount of capital goods imported in December 2016.
Eight months out of 12, the Philippines’ import bill was
larger than its export receipts in 2017.
In December 2017, more than half of the country’s imports
came from China ($1.65 billion or 18.9 percent), South Korea ($935.98 million
or 10.7 percent), Japan ($826.15 million or about 9.5 percent), the United
States ($648.41 million or 7. 4 percent), and Thailand ($596.85 million or
about 6.8 percent).
Hong Kong bought nearly 17 percent of all Philippine exports
in December 2017, for a total bill of US$789.61 million. That was 27.3 percent
higher than what Hong Kong paid the Philippines in export receipts in December
2016. The other top five destinations for Philippine exports last Christmas
were the United States ($655.14 million or about 13.9 percent of all exports);
Japan ($636.62 million or 13.5 percent); China ($517.84 million or 11 percent);
and Singapore ($324.38 million or 6.9 percent). (IDA)
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