Local trade volume down in 3rd quarter

MANILA, Philippines–Domestic trade slowed during the third quarter of 2014, with the volume of local goods distributed all over the country mainly through sea ports dropping by 15.4 percent year on year.

A preliminary report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the total volume of domestic trade transactions from July to September last year slid to 4.12 million tons from 4.87 million tons in the same three-month period of 2013.

The PSA said 99.7 percent of the commodities traded nationwide in the third quarter—equivalent to 4.11 million tons—were distributed via sea transportation.

To recall, the daytime truck ban implemented in Manila, which worsened the congestion at the country’s biggest ports in the capital city, was still in effect until mid-September. Traders complained that the truck ban had resulted in delays in the delivery of both raw materials and finished products.

Despite the double-digit decline in volume, the total value of the commodities traded within the country in the third quarter inched up by 0.4 percent to P144.4 billion from P143.9 billion in the previous year.

In its inflation report for the third quarter of 2014, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas noted that “year-on-year headline inflation rose to 4.6 percent in the third quarter of 2014 from the quarter- and year-ago rates of 4.4 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.”

The faster rise in the prices of basic goods during the period has been attributed mainly to slower trade due to port congestion.

The top products distributed across the country from July to September were machinery and transport equipment (P38.5 billion, or 26.6 percent of the total), followed by food and live animals (P36.3 billion, or 25.1 percent).

During the third quarter, the manufactured goods traded nationwide amounted to P19.5 billion, while animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes registered the least value of just P780 million.

On a regional basis, the National Capital Region (NCR) was the source of P37.3 billion worth of products, or 25.8 percent of the total, during the period.

NCR also posted the most favorable trade balance as outflows of goods produced within Metro Manila outpaced inflows from the provinces by P15.5 billion.