Electronics remain PH top export

AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Electronic products continued to be the country’s top export in April, accounting for about 40 percent of the country’s total export receipts, according to the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (Seipi).

Seipi president Dan Lachica reported, however, that exports of electronic products fell by 2.5 percent to $1.82 billion in April from the $1.86 billion recorded in the same month in 2013 due mainly to a  decrease in export volume of several categories.

Lachica identified these sectors as components/devices (semiconductors), whose export sales declined by 16 percent; office equipment, by 9 percent; telecommunication, by 18 percent; and control and instrumentation, by 14 percent.  Other segments however fared better in April such as electronic data processing, which grew by 93 percent; consumer electronics, by 46 percent; communication/radar, 58 percent; medical/industrial, 2 percent; and automotive electronics, by 12 percent, Lachica added.

Exports of other electronics also grew by 21.79 percent  to $129.32 million in April from $106.18 million a year ago.

Compared to the previous month, the April export sales reflected a 16 percent decline from the $2.17 billion receipts posted in March.

As of end-April, cumulative exports of electronic products registered a 4.85 percent increase to $7.64 billion, as against the $7.29 billion recorded a year ago.

“Only two electronic products posted a negative growth, namely components/devices (semiconductors) at 13 percent and automotive electronics at 43 percent. The remaining seven sectors grew by 340 percent,” Lachica reported. For other electronics, cumulative exports surged by 72.75 percent to $488.16 million in the first four months of the year, from the $282.58 million a year ago.

According to Lachica, the country’s top five countries of export destination, comprising 65.7 percent of total exports, were Hong Kong (16.6 percent share), China (13.4 percent), Singapore (12.5 percent), United States (12.3 percent), and Japan (10.9 percent). Completing the top 10 markets were Germany (7.8 percent), Taiwan (6.2 percent), Netherlands (4.5 percent), Korea (3.5 percent) and Thailand (3.1 percent).

For 2014, Seipi said it was maintaining its modest 5-percent growth projection for electronics exports. This expected recovery in the industry’s export revenues may be attributed to the growth in demand, particularly for the automotive and consumer electronics, as the global economy improves.

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