Flat growth seen for electronics exports this year

MANILA, Philippines - Exports of electronic products are seen to post flat growth this year given continued drop in outbound shipments, the Semiconductors and Electronics Industry of the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI) said.

“Business outlook seems flat,” SEIPI president Ernesto Santiago said in a text message.

Data from the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed that outbound shipments of electronic products in the January to August period were down 8.13 percent to $15.59 billion from last year.

The SEIPI initially set a 10 to 15 percent growth target for exports of electronic products this year.

In July, the SEIPI cut the growth projection to five to seven percent citing a weak global recovery affecting demand for shipments.

When asked if the SEIPI would be revising again its growth projection for exports of electronic products this year, Santiago said it is difficult to set a target citing discrepancy in statistical data given by the NSO, particularly for automotive electronics which are not being counted as electronics exports because of tariff code change.

He noted that total electronics exports should have been higher with data released since the start of the year not matching figures reported by industry members.

“The DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) and NSO (are) working on the discrepancy,” he said.

As for next year, he said growth in exports of electronic products would depend on whether demand from overseas would pick-up.

“Recovery depends on recovery of global economy,” he said.

Earlier, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo said the country’s outbound shipments of electronic products are seen to recover next year with new electronic firms set to start their operations here.

“In the future, because there are many firms setting up plants here that will be opening end of this year for exports. I think next year will be better than this year for the electronics industry,” he said.