May exports up 6.1% to $4.12B
Philippine exports picked up pace in May, rising 6.1 percent from a year earlier to $4.12 billion as global demand for locally-made electronics increased, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported yesterday.
The government statistics office said the May exports grew at a slightly faster clip than the revised 5.1-percent growth in April.
The latest growth figure, however, was sharply lower than the 17.6-percent expansion recorded in May last year when exports hit $3.885.12 billion.
Shipments of electronics, which accounted for 62.1 percent of total exports in May, climbed 11.8 percent to $2.56 billion from $2.290 billion in the same period last year.
Except for electronic data processing, consumer electronics and telecommunication, all electronic products recorded a year-on-year increase ranging from a low of 17 percent to a high of 582.1 percent.
Similarly, export earnings from electronic products for the five-month period went up by eight percent to $12.989 billin from $12.025 billion in the same period last year.
Articles of apparel and clothing accessories continued to be the country’s second top earner with a combined share of 4.4 percent and an aggregate receipt of $182.32 million. The figure, however, was 23.6 percent lower than the year-ago level of $238.61 million in May last year.
Petroleum and mineral exports were also up as did agricultural products, but machinery and transport equipment shipments fell, owing to weaker Japanese demand, Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri said.
Neri said improved electronics shipments reflected “the higher memory requirement of personal computers and cellular phones,” while the “absence of weather disturbances in the first half of the year” helped the agricultural sector.
For the first five months this year, exports were up 7.7 percent to $20.42 billion, lagging the government target of 11-percent growth this year.
Jonathan Ravelas, economist at Banco de Oro-EPCI Bank, said the data highlight growing concern over rising prices of global commodities.
“Export growth for the rest of the year should at least be at the level of eight percent. That would be a more comfortable level for exports to grow even if the peso continues to strengthen,” he said.
“When commodity prices are going up, this could trigger inflation and affect spending patterns. There would be uncertainty in demand for goods eventually,” Ravelas said.
Rounding up the list of top exports for the month were: cathodes and sections of cathodes, up 25.3 percent to $106.59 million; woodcrafts and furniture, up 8.8 percent to $91.47 million; and coconut oil, down 1.22 percent to $64.51 million.
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