PH electronics exporters trim growth target for 2023

MANILA  -A Philippine trade association of electronics makers and exporters has revised their export target for the year, saying that they now project it to remain flat in 2023 owing to global headwinds that have weakened the industry’s performance.

The Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc (Seipi) on Wednesday said it had revised export growth target this year from 5 percent to just zero after taking into account the export numbers from January to June.

“The last quarter or so, we’ve been clobbered in terms of our electronics exports. In fact, at one point, we were 15 percent down compared to last year. There have been signs of recovery,” Seipi president Danilo C. Lachica told reporters on the sidelines of a forum organized by the Philippine Business for Education (PBed) in Makati.

Lachica pointed to the detrimental effects of the geopolitical and trade conflicts involving the United States, one of their top export destinations, as among the factors that slowed electronics exports.

Earlier in June, the Seipi official also pointed to the challenges posed by the looming global recession and the effects of the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

According to SEIPI’s records, electronics exports dropped by 6.99 percent during the first half of the year to $21.19 billion from $22.78 billion in the same period in 2022.

“But the demand is still there. And so, we’re hoping that the thanksgiving demand, the Christmas demand will propel the recovery of the industry,” said the Seipi official.

He said that most of their products are shipped to Asian economies, the largest volume of which go to China and Hong Kong.

“But Hong Kong is a clearing house. It (shipment) goes to the (European Union). And then the next strongest market would be at about 12 percent . That would be for the USA, Japan and Singapore,” he said.

According to SEIPI, the Philippines’ total electronics exports reached $49.09 billion in 2022, marking a 6.88 percent growth from $45.93 billion in 2021.

The trade group recorded export receipts of $40.67 billion in 2020, $43.32 billion in 2019, $37.57 billion in 2018, and $36.5 billion in 2017.

Aside from the electronics industry’s contribution to the country’s exports, it also provides employment to more than three million Filipinos based on estimates from the trade group.