EXPORTS SURGE ANEW IN NOVEMBER 2013 PHL among the fastest in the region

MANILA —Brisk performance of manufactured and agro-based products steered merchandise exports to another double-digit growth in November 2013, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

This statement came after the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported that merchandise exports grew 18.9 percent to $4.3 billion in November 2013, from $3.6 billion a year ago.

“The buoyant export performance of manufactured products, driven primarily by electronics, reflects gains from the revival of the manufacturing sector as one of our growth drivers,” Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said.

Exports of manufactured goods sustained a double-digit growth of 16.9 percent in November 2013, registering a total value of $3.7 billion during the period.

He emphasized major gains were recorded in manufactured items such as electronic products, garments, wood manufactures, chemicals, and machinery and transport equipment. 

Electronics, which comprised over half of exports receipts from manufactured goods, was up by 10 percent, consistent with the projected gradual recovery in worldwide sales of personal computers and an uptick in global consumer confidence.

“Export revenues from agro-based products also soared as a result of higher value of our exported bananas, fish products, centrifugal and refined sugar, desiccated coconut, and unmanufactured tobacco,” Balisacan, who is also NEDA Director-General, said.

Outward shipments of total agro-based products grew by 38.1 percent to $265.4 million in November 2013, from $192.2 million in the comparable period in 2012.

Export performance of mineral and petroleum products likewise expanded by 3 percent and 250 percent, respectively.

For the first eleven months of 2013, merchandise exports rose 2.6 percent to $49.4 billion.

“We are the top export performer among major trade-oriented economies in East and Southeast Asian region,” the Cabinet Official noted.

Vietnam and China followed, growing by 15 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively, in November 2013.

Meanwhile, Japan remained as the top destination of Philippine exports in November 2013, accounting for 23.6 percent of total overseas merchandise sales receipts equivalent to $1.1 billion. 

Next to Japan is the United States of America (USA) with a 13.7-percent share of the country’s total exports followed by China (12%), Hong Kong (9.6%), and Singapore (7.7%)

M.R. No. 2014-002                                                                                    

10 January 2014