Exports continued to slump in October

MERCHANDISE exports slid for the seventh straight month in October, starting the fourth quarter with the value of shipments down by a tenth as majority of the country’s top export commodities posted double-digit declines, the government reported yesterday.

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) continued to blame “weak global demand” for the slump in exports.

A preliminary report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the value of goods made or sourced here and sold overseas declined by 10.8 percent to $4.6 billion last October from $5.1 billion a year ago.

The PSA noted that seven out of the 10 major export commodities posted year-on-year declines: Articles of apparel and clothing accessories (down 53.6 percent); other mineral products (down 50.2 percent); chemicals (down 40.3 percent); metal components (down 35.9 percent); coconut oil (down 31.2 percent); other manufactures (down 30 percent), and machinery and transport equipment (down 18 percent).

“The lingering sluggish global demand, as well as the slack in industrial activity in the United States and the recent economic adjustments in China, brought down the country’s exports. Export performance in the succeeding months is also anticipated to remain weak given the slowdown in economic growth of the country’s major trading partners,” Neda Director-General and Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said in a statement.

Neda also partly blamed the economic slowdown in China for the poor export performance. “Structural and economic adjustments in China have affected Philippine export performance, with revenue losses dragging down exports growth for October. From January to October 2015, export revenues to China contracted year-on-year by 24.7 percent,” it noted.

PSA data showed that since December last year, exports posted a growth only in the month of March, by just 2.1 percent.

The decline in October was nonetheless slower than the 15.5-percent drop posted last September.

At the end of the first 10 months, the value of merchandise exports totaled $48.9 billion, down 6.2 percent from $52.1 billion in the same period last year.