LOW GLOBAL, CONSUMER DEMAND WEAKEN IMPORTS BY 3.2 PERCENT IN JANUARY 2012 — NEDA
MANILA— With the 3.2-percent year-on-year decline in January 2012 imports, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cayetano W. Paderanga, Jr. stated the sluggish performance reflected the general weakness of global demand which feeds into the country’s imports through export products with high import contents, particularly electronics.
“Seasonal decline in consumer demand, higher production costs, and the lingering effects of the floods in Thailand on the regional production network pending the full reconstruction, also contributed to the decline in imports in January,” the Cabinet official said.
Paderanga stated that merchandise imports declined by 3.2 percent from US$5.3 billion in January 2011 to US$5.1 billion in January 2012 due to the lower purchases of raw materials, intermediate, capital, and consumer goods. He, however, explained that on a month-on-month basis, import payments in January 2012 rebounded by 10.8 percent from US$4.6 billion in December 2011.
Payments for raw materials and intermediate goods decreased by 19.6 percent to US$1.9 billion in January 2012 from US$2.4 billion in January 2011. This was due to the reduced purchases of imported semi-processed (-20.2%) and unprocessed raw materials (-15.1%).
Imports of consumer goods also declined by 7.1 percent to US$520.8 million year-on-year due to lower purchase of foreign passenger cars and motorized cycles (-13.1%) and home appliances (-19.7%).
Paderanga noted a report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) showing a decline in the total domestic sales of passenger car and commercial vehicles in January by 24.9 percent year-on-year to 8,296 units due to lingering impact of the floods in Thailand on the regional supply chain.
“However, BSP’s Consumer Expectations Survey points to a more positive intention of households to buy consumer durables and motor vehicles in 2012 on the back of bullish expectations on investments, business opportunities, and employment,” said Paderanga, who is also NEDA Director-General.
He also cited a World Bank report saying that while downside risk to car imports remains, depending on the speed of recovery in Thailand, the pick-up in production is already on track and the impact on other segments of the regional supply chain has softened.
Also, imports of semi-processed raw materials fell by 20.2 percent on account of the decline in the inward shipments of raw inputs for electrical equipment (-43.6%) and manufactured goods (-3.3%).
“Slow importation of some manufactured products reflects the weak performance of certain segments of domestic manufacturing activities in January 2012,” Paderanga added.
The National Statistics Office’s (NSO) Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industry (MISSI) showed that manufacturing subsectors such as electrical machinery, fabricated metal, transport equipment, basic metals, and textiles registered year-on-year negative growth in terms of value of production in January 2012.
On the other hand, the value of imports of mineral fuels and lubricants surged by 45.3 percent to US$ 1.3 billion from US$909.0 million in January 2011 due to higher volume of inward shipments and higher oil prices in the international market.
The People’s Republic of China (PROC) dislodged Japan as number one source of imported products with a 10.4 percent share in total imports in January 2012. Value of imports from the PROC amounted to US$535.6 million, up by 13.9 percent from US$ 470.4 million in January 2011, which comprised mainly of capital and manufactured goods.
Japan was the second major source of imports, with a 10.1 percent share followed by the United States (9.0%), the Republic of Korea (7.8%) and Singapore (7.3%).
April 2, 2012
