(UPDATE) Export drop eases in May
By Judith Balea, abs-cbnNEWS.com | 07/10/2009 12:00 PM
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MANILA - Philippine exports fell in May from a year earlier, but grew from the previous month's level, with some signs of pickup in electronics shipments, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported Friday.
The agency said merchandise exports dropped 27 percent to $3.09 billion in May from last year's $4.23 billion as overseas demand remained weak. But while May marked the eighth consecutive month of export decline, it saw a 10.1-percent improvement from April's $2.8 billion.
Shipments of electronics tumbled 26.8 percent to $1.81 billion from $2.47 billion, after a 33.2-percent annual fall in April. Month-on-month, electronics exports rose 7.6 percent.
Electronics, the country's most important export group, acounted for 58.7 percent or $1.81 billion of total receipts for May.
Other top exports recording double-digit annual declines were apparel and clothing accessories, woodcrafts and furniture, coconut oil, and metal components.
Lowest decline since November
The May figures were the lowest annual contractions for both total exports and electronics since November last year.
Citing this, economists said exports may have already bottomed out, although they warned that a solid recovery is not yet in sight.
"Indicators suggest that demand has stopped collapsing at this point, partly due to trade financing conditions easing considerably. But compelling reasons to believe that advanced economies will get back on track to resume consuming like they did during the pre-crisis period continue to elude," said Vishnu Varathan of Forecast Pte.
Nomura economist Tetsuji Sano echoed Varathan's view, saying "We don't see a rapid recovery scenario for the developed countries so an export recovery should be very, very mild."
For his part, Edward Teather of UBS said that the May numbers were "fairly healthy" and were in line with improvement in the rest of the region.
"Incremental improvement looks okay. That is consistent with Philippines' export growth recovering," he noted.
The Philippine government had projected a 13- to 15-percent drop in export earnings this year following a 2.86-percent decline in 2008, as the global economic slump continues to hurt trade.
The weakness in the country's exports is one of the main drags on the economy, which is projected to drastically slow to a 0.8-1.8 percent growth this year from the revised 3.8 percent growth last year.
Japan now the top market
Japan (including Okinawa) has emerged as the country's top export destination, overtaking the United States. Japan accounted for 16.4 percent or $505.44 million of total receipts in May, lower by 23.9 percent from $665.41 million in the same month a year ago. The country last ranked as the Philippines' top export market in August 2008.
The US was the Philippines' second-biggest market in May, with export receipts of $495.13 million or a 16-percent share of total exports.
Other leading markets include China ($302.74 million), Netherlands ($286.89 million), Hong Kong ($261.78 million), Singapore ($215.03 million), Korea ($177.50 million), Germany ($156.59 million), Taiwan ($117.99 million), and Malaysia ($111.81 million). With a report from Reuters
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