WEAK DEMAND, SUPPLY DISRUPTIONS AFFECT NOV ’11 IMPORTS—NEDA
MANILA—Merchandise imports marginally inched up in November 2011 when trade was broadly affected by both demand and supply constraints, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
NEDA made this statement after the National Statistics Office reported that imports payments posted a year-on-year increase of 0.6 percent to US$5.0 billion in November 2011.
“The slowdown in import growth was mainly due to the lower inward shipments of raw materials for electronic manufactures, weak domestic demand for durable equipment, and lower automobile imports caused by the disruption in the production chain following the flooding in Thailand,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cayetano W. Paderanga, Jr.
Also, lower payments for capital goods (-13.8%), semi-processed raw materials (-1.6%), and consumer goods (-1.7%) contributed to the slower overall growth of merchandise imports during the month.
“Imported electrical equipment serve as inputs for the production of exported electronic products, which account for more than 50 percent of the country’s total merchandise exports,” Paderanga said.
The NSO earlier reported that electronic exports contracted by 34.4 percent in November 2011.
“Within the context of the weak global environment, the decline of capital goods imports may be explained by consumers and firms’ tendency to postpone consumption of investment and durable goods during periods of demand shock due to income constraints,” said Paderanga, who is also NEDA Director-General.
Consumer goods contracted by 1.7 percent year-on-year to US$592.3 million as the gains from higher payments for non-durable goods (9.0%) were countered by the decline in imports of durable goods (-11.2%) on account of lower imports of passenger cars and motorized cycle (-24.4%).
Citing a report from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI), Paderanga said that most local automobile dealers import both units and parts from Thailand, which is considered the automotive hub in the East Asian region.
“However, according to the World Bank, the recovery of production to the pre-crisis level will continue to be affected by the conditions of the global demand for cars and electronics, despite reconstruction efforts to restore order in the supply chain,” Paderanga added.
CAMPI reported that local sales of motor vehicle contracted by 10.6 percent from 13,523 units in November 2010 to 12,090 units in November 2011.
Nonetheless, there were year-on-year increases in the imports of mineral fuels and lubricants (30.4 percent to US$1.1 billion), and unprocessed raw materials (15.8 percent US$206.4 million) in November 2011.
The surge in petroleum imports was due to greater volume of inward shipments of coal and the higher oil prices in the international market, while the increase in the payments for unprocessed raw materials was traced to higher imports of wheat (24.0%), inedible crude materials (14.0%) and tobacco (32.8%).
For the major supplier of imports to the country, Japan continued to be the top source comprising 12.7 percent of the total value of merchandise imports in November 2011. Inward shipments from Japan totaled US$ 631.6 million, composed mainly of capital and manufactured goods.
The People’s Republic of China was the second major source of imports with an 11.0 percent share followed by the United States of America (10.9%), Singapore (6.9%) and Saudi Arabia (6.5%).
Meanwhile, total import payments from January to November 2011 amounted to US$55.5 billion, which is 11.0 percent higher than the value of merchandise imports in the same period a year ago. Also, the trade-in-goods deficit from January to November 2011 increased to US$10.9 billion from US$2.7 billion a year ago.
M.R. No. 2012-004
26 January 2011
