Imports declined by 2.6% in Sept.

The value of goods shipped to the Philippines last September slid by 2.6 percent year-on-year to $5.568 billion, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

PSA data released on Tuesday showed that total imports in September alone went down from the $5.719 billion posted in the same month last year.

From January to September, the total import bill reached $48.134 billion—up 3.4 percent from the $46.529 billion registered in the first nine months of 2013.

As the growth of Philippine exports outpaced imports, the trade-in-goods deficit as of September narrowed to $1.5 billion, from the $4.1 billion reported in the same nine-month period last year.

Merchandise exports rose by 15.7 percent to $5.849 billion in September—the fastest month-on-month growth in the third quarter.

From January to September, total merchandise export receipts reached $46.596 billion—9.9-percent higher year-on-year.

Semiconductor and electronics products still accounted for much of the country’s imports that month, with receipts totaling $1.37 billion—25 percent of the total import bill during the period, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (Seipi) Tuesday reported.

But the value of semiconductor and electronics imports declined by 22 percent in September, from the $1.76 billion recorded in the same month last year.

The decline in year-on-year and year-to-date growths “can be attributed to the port congestion and decreased dependence on imported materials,” Seipi president Dan Lachica Tuesday explained in a report.

The drop in the shipments of raw materials for the manufacture of electronics products prompted Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan to urge the government to closely monitor the situation because “this could be a leading indicator of the country’s external prospects, especially in the exports of manufactured goods.”

Also, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) called on government agencies to ensure that the country’s ports could handle the expected growth in the volume of imported products ahead of the holidays.

In the first nine months of the year, imports of semiconductor and electronics products fell by 9.67 percent to $10.69 billion, from the $11.83 billion registered from January to September 2013.

In a statement, Lachica said that the import volume in eight of nine electronic product sectors dipped: Shipments of components/devices (semiconductors), fell by 11 percent; electronic data processing (EDP) by 13 percent; office equipment by 0.6 percent; consumer electronics by 1 percent; telecommunication by 4 percent; communications/radar by 2 percent; control/instrumentation by 7 percent; and medical/industrial instrumentation by 0.7 percent.

Only the imports of the automotive sector grew significantly by 58 percent, he added.

But compared to the previous month, imports of September grew by 19.58 percent from $1.14 billion, on the back of increasing demand.

Components/devices (semiconductors) accounted for the bulk of the shipments at 19 percent, followed by consumer electronics, which rose by 29 percent.

Apart from electronics, shipments of imported transport equipment, as well as food and live animals, also decreased at the end of the third quarter.

In the months prior to September, there had been a slight rise in the volume of imports. In July, shipments grew by a mere 0.2 percent, while in August, imports rose by 0.9 percent.

Balisacan, who is also the director general of Neda, expressed optimism that imports would recover in the months leading to the holidays.

The overall growth of imports “remains anchored on the general sentiment of the economy for the period. Current quarter outlook index for both consumer and business confidence show a relatively weaker traction due to seasonal weak demand and a slack in industrial production. Still, imports are expected to pick up in the beginning of the fourth quarter in time for the holiday season,” Balisacan said.

With the anticipated increase in economic activity towards the end of the year, “the government should remain vigilant on the logistical challenges that may arise especially those involving the importation of consumer goods,” the Neda chief added.

Last September, the top sources of products shipped to the Philippines were China, Taiwan, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Germany.