Imports rose by 6.9% to $5.54B in August

AP FILE PHOTO

The country’s imports grew in August from that of a year ago, rebounding from the contraction reported in the first half of 2013.

The National Statistics Office on Friday reported that imports in August amounted to $5.54 billion—6.9 percent higher year-on-year. Imports only started to recover in July, when it rose by 8.7 percent year-on-year.

But from January to August, the total import bill registered a 0.9-percent contraction from last year’s $41.02 billion.

From January to August, exports amounted to $35 billion. As a result, the country registered a trade deficit of $6 billion in the eight-month period.

The import figure dropped in the first semester because of uncertainties in the world economy, which gave rise to speculations that global demand for Philippine-made goods would be weak. The country’s imports are mostly made up of raw materials and intermediate goods needed for the production of export wares.

But the improvement of the global economy has prompted traders to increase the importation of inputs.

Although inbound shipments rose in August, electronics imports continued to decline. Electronics imports reached $1.34 billion, down by 17.6 percent year-on-year. Also, it accounted for 24.2 percent of the total import bill that month.

Less than five years ago, electronics accounted for more than half of the country’s total imports.

Electronics imports are mainly raw materials, which are assembled in the Philippines and turned into intermediate goods for export.

Arsenio Balisacan, director general of the National Economic and Development Authority, earlier said that the decline of electronics could be a welcome development.

This means that Philippine manufacturers have succeeded in diversifying their products and are becoming less dependent on electronics, which is highly sensitive to fluctuations in the global economy, he explained.

Apart from electronics, the biggest imports during the month were mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (up 26.5 percent to $1.29 billion), transport equipment (up 55.4 percent to $456.76 million), industrial machinery and equipment (up 5.1 percent to $263.37 million), and metalliferous ores and metal scraps ($169.05 million, nearly a hundred times more than last year’s $1.75 million).

The top source of imports was China, which accounted for $720.23 million of the total—up year-on-year by 30 percent.

Other sources of imports were: the United States (down 12 percent to $522.36 million), Taiwan (up 8.4 percent to $470.53 million), and Japan (down 10.1 percent to $504.93 million).

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