PH exports up 9% to $61.8B in ’14

PHILIPPINE-MADE goods shipped overseas rose 9 percent to $61.81 billion last year even as exports slightly dipped in December following 10 months of year-on-year increases.

The growth in both volume and value of locally manufactured products also slowed last December, the latest preliminary data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Tuesday showed.

For this year, exports would likely be “slightly tempered” by external factors such as the slower Chinese economy as well as deflation in the euro zone, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

PSA data showed that export revenues posted during the entire 2014 were almost a tenth more than the $56.7 billion recorded in 2013, hence exceeding the 6-percent growth target last year.

The month of December, however, saw outbound shipments dip by 3.2 percent to $4.8 billion from $4.96 billion in the same month of the previous year. This drop followed 10 straight months of year-on-year increase, including November’s robust 21.7-percent jump—the highest monthly export growth rate in 2014.

The PSA attributed the decline in exports last December to “negative growth performances” of four major commodity groups–electronic equipment and parts, woodcraft and furniture, other manufactures, and mineral products.

In a statement, Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan noted that the value of manufactured goods exported in December slid to $4.18 billion from $4.23 billion a year ago.

That month, “sluggish outturns” in coconut and sugar products likewise brought down receipts from agro-based products as a whole by almost a fourth to $291.8 million from $388.7 million in the previous year, added Balisacan, who is also director general of Neda.

“Nonetheless, outbound sales of electronic products, machinery and transport equipment, garments, miscellaneous manufactured articles and chemicals remained buoyant” last December, Balisacan said.

In December, the top 10 markets for Philippine products were Japan, United States, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Germany, Taiwan, Thailand and Netherlands.

For the entire 2014, the 9-percent growth registered by Philippine shipments reflected the economy’s resilience from external factors, according to the Neda chief.

External shocks, however, would likely spill over this year and cause a “possible slight tempering” of export earnings, Balisacan warned.

“What could provide an upside support to exports is the continuing US recovery and possibly some respite from Japan, which may realize economic expansion towards end-2015,” he said.

The government targets to further grow exports by 8 percent in 2015.

Meantime, factory output—as measured by the Volume of Production Index (VoPI) of the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (Missi)—rose 7.5 percent in December, slower than the robust 22.8-percent expansion registered during the same month in 2013.

Meanwhile, Missi’s Value of Production Index (VaPI) last December increased by 4.2 percent, also slower year-on-year than the previous December’s 17.8-percent growth.

The average annual growth rate of the VoPI in 2014 settled at 7.5 percent, lower than the 13.9 percent posted in 2013. As for the VaPI’s average annual increase, it improved to 6.3 percent last year from 5.4 percent in the previous year.

Balisacan said the manufacturing output last December grew due to “robust domestic and sustained export demands for certain products and services such as printing, beverages, basic metals, wood and wood products.”