Exports post record growth

SALES abroad of Philippine-made goods grew at the fastest pace on record in March, with the quick recovery of electronics raising the possibility of an upgrade in the industry’s forecast. The National Statistics Office (NSO) on Wednesday said merchandise exports in March jumped 43.7 percent to $4.176 billion from $2.907 billion last year.

“This is the highest year-on-year increase since the [NSO] started compiling monthly exports statistics in 1991. This is supported by the significant growth of almost all export products,” Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos said in a statement.

The March performance allowed exports to grow by 42.9 percent to $11.326 billion in the first quarter of this year, from $7.926 billion in the same three-month period last year.

The first-quarter growth was higher than the government’s full-year target of 18 percent.

The NSO attributed the growth to the strong demand for electronics, as well as higher sales to major markets such as the US, Japan, Hong Kong and China.

Electronics, which accounted for 57.9 percent of the total export revenue in March, grew 49.1 percent to $2.416 billion from $1.620 billion last year.

Month-on-month, electronic shipments likewise went up by 16.6 percent from $2.071 billion in February.

“The rise in electronics exports followed the worldwide trend of a hefty increase in semiconductors. This was the highest global sales since November 2007,” Santos said, referring to the report of the Semiconductor Industry Association.

Arthur Young, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI) chairman, said the industry’s strong showing points not only to a recovery, but even growth this year.

He said SEIPI will review and likely revise its yearend forecast by the end of this month. “Let’s wait until then as by that time we will have better visibility on the coming quarters moving forward. There is a possibility that we will increase the growth target as the market is still looking very good,” he added.

SEIPI had projected electronics exports this year to grow between 15 percent and 20 percent.

But Young said the high growth may not be sustained throughout the year. “We don’t think the growth
in electronics exports will remain high as in the first three months of this year, and while the market will continue to grow, the growth should taper off later in the year,” he said.

Senen Perlada, Export Development Council director, said they will retain the 16-percent growth projection in the meanwhile, but didn’t rule out a review by the council in its next meeting for any possible revision.

According to the NSO, exports of articles of apparel and clothing accessories amounted to $146.07 million, up by 8.5 percent from $134.63 million in March last year.

Sales of cathodes and sections of cathodes of refined copper surged 113.6 percent to $111.53 million from $52.21 million last year.

Coconut oil exports amounted to $102.83 million, 212.9 percent higher than the year ago level of $32.86 million.

The US remained the Philippines’ top buyer for March with sales of $703.32 million, or 39.8 percent higher than the $503.04 million recorded a year ago.

Japan followed with export earnings of $682.49 million, up by 52.8 percent from $446.56 million last year.
Exports to the People’s Republic of China amounted to $487.32 million, also rising from $308.03 million last year. –DARWIN G. AMOJELAR SENIOR REPORTER AND BEN ARNOLD O. DE VERA REPORTER, Manila Times