Electronics top imports in October

Semiconductor and electronics products were the country’s largest imports in October, accounting for $1.11 billion or 25 percent of the total import bill for the month, the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (Seipi) said.

Seipi president Dan Lachica reported that the industry’s imports for October this year were 11.25 percent lower than the $1.25 billion worth of imports last year, dragged mainly by four electronics product sectors.

Data from Seipi showed that imports of components/devices (semiconductors) in October this year fell by 16 percent compared to the same month last year; communication/radar imports dropped by 34 percent; control and instrumentation imports also declined by 14 percent; while medical/industrial instrumentation decreased by 8 percent.

Similarly, imports of semiconductor and electronic products contracted by 19.17 percent compared to the $1.37 billion worth of electronics imported in September this year.

Cumulatively, the value of imports of these products in the first 10 months of the year was down 9.36 percent to $11.85 billion from the $13.08 billion registered a year ago.

“[Imports of] seven out of nine electronic product sectors declined, namely components/devices (semiconductors) by 11 percent; electronic data processing (EDP), 9 percent; office equipment, 1 percent; telecommunication, 3 percent; communication/radar, 4 percent; control/instrumentation, 7 percent; and medical/industrial instrumentation, 3 percent. Only the [imports made by the] automotive sector grew significantly at 63 percent,” Lachica said.

This year, the Philippine electronics industry is seen to grow faster than expected at about 7 to 11 percent, on the back of rising global demand and recovery of key markets.

This growth may, however, slow down to about 5 to 7 percent next year.

Seipi chair Arthur Tan earlier said that the growth in electronics exports this year would be fueled by rising consumption requirements in the United States and Europe, while the expected increase in exports receipts from the sector next year will be driven by a strong demand in the global automotive and mobile phone markets.