WITH shipments of electronic products decreasing by more than 25 percent, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported that the growth of merchandise export in May went down by 3.2 percent.
The NSO, in the preliminary results of its Merchandise Export Performance report released on Tuesday, noted this was the first time since 2009 that the country’s export growth again slowed down. Toward the end of the global economic crisis, the country’s export growth shrunk by 6.06 percent in October 2009.
The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) is still trying to determine whether this is a temporary or permanent effect of the global slowdown in the demand for electronic products. This is a key factor that could change the government’s 10-percent export target this year.
“We will have to look closely at the data but we are not happy with the results. Definitely, electronic exports dragged down export growth in May,” said Neda Assistant Director General Ruperto Majuca.
But former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the declining performance of exports this year would likely cut the government’s target export growth this year to around 5 percent to 6 percent.
Diokno said export growth has been sliding since September last year and the 3.2-percent shrinkage in May was no longer a surprise. He attributed this to the weak economic recovery globally and low consumer demand for electronics.
He added that the reduction of exports in May could be “more serious” for the economy. This could mean the country’s electronic products may no longer be globally competitive.
“I expect exports growth to be negative up to September 2011 because of base effect and weak demand. Demand for semiconductors is a derived demand; weak demand for consumer durables is largely responsible for the contraction in electronic products,” said Diokno. “Maybe the electronic components that the Philippines manufactures may not be attuned to this changing demand pattern. Is the Philippines producing the components that the growing electronics market needs?”
The NSO said export earnings in May 2011 amounted to $4.104 billion, lower than the $4.241 billion recorded during the same period of the previous year. On a monthly basis, export growth was also down by 4.6 percent from $4.302 billion in April 2011.
Meanwhile, total export receipts from the country’s top 10 markets for the month of May 2011 amounted to $3.362 billion, or 81.9 percent of the total.
The United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, Japan including Okinawa, and China were the top three destinations of Philippine exports in May 2011.
Shipments to the US accounted for 17.1 percent of the total, with the revenue amounting to $700.76 million. It was higher by 1.9 percent from the $687.53 million recorded a year ago.
Exports to Japan accounted for 15.2 percent of the total with export earnings worth $624.27 million. This represented an increase of 1.2 percent from $616.93 million reported a year earlier.
Products shipped to China accounted for 11.9 percent of total exports with revenues amounting to $490.23 million. Compared with its level a year ago, it grew by 25.9 percent from $389.23 million.
The Philippines’ merchandise exports to Eastern Asia in May 2011 contributed 44.9-percent share to the total exports, amounting to $1.841 billion, or an increase of 5 percent from its May 2010 figure of $1.753 billion.
Exports to Asean members accounted for a 17.4-percent share of the total merchandise exports in May 2011 that reached $712.37 million, or a negative annual growth rate of 13.1 percent from $820.02 million recorded in May 2010.
Merchandise exports to the European Union were 10.6 percent of the total merchandise exports in May 2011 and valued at $435.53 million, a contraction of 42 percent from $750.81 million recorded in May 2010. --Cai Ordinario
