Electronics, semicon still top dollar earners, says Seipi

MANILA, Philippines–Semiconductor and electronic products remained the country’s largest exports as of November 2014, accounting for $2.55 billion, or 49.2 percent, of the total receipts for the said month.

Dan Lachica, president of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, said in a report that the industry’s export receipts for November reflected a 27 percent growth compared to the $2 billion worth of products shipped out in the same month last year.

According to Lachica, exports in six out of nine electronic product sectors grew, the biggest contributor of which was the components/devices (semiconductors) segment, with $1.85 billion.

Exports in the control and instrumentation segment posted the biggest increase of 390 percent.

“The industry is recovering and will perform even better once we resolve the port congestion problem. Another driver is the continued growth in the telecom sector, namely, for smart phones, tablets and connectivity,” Lachica explained.

Exports of semiconductor and electronic products similarly registered a 14.4-percent growth compared to the $2.23 billion exports recorded in October 2014. This was due to the increases noted in four out of nine electronic product sectors, namely, components/devices; office equipment; telecommunication; and automotive electronics.

“Based on the account of some members, electronic exports for the month of November were expected to increase due to higher production to meet consumers’ demand. Demand is higher for this month due to the holiday season,” Lachica said.

Cumulatively, exports of electronic products inched up by close to 8 percent to $23.5 billion as of end November 2014, compared to the $21.77 billion recorded a year ago.

Taiwan was the country’s top destination, accounting for 17.8 percent of the semiconductor and electronics industry’s exports, followed by Hong Kong, which accounted for 15.8 percent; Japan, 13 percent; United States, 10.5 percent; and China, also 10.5 percent.

“With a month to go, the 2014 full year export growth figure is expected to be in the 7-11 percent range.  At the end of the year, the industry is looking at a total electronic exports between $23.3 billion and $24.2 billion. The momentum is expected to continue in 2015, albeit at a modest single-digit growth projection of 5-7 percent,” Lachica said.–Amy R. Remo