Imports up, factory output down in April

The country’s total merchandise imports for April rose 20.3 percent to $5.5 billion from $4.6 billion a year ago, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO).

Month on month, imports declined slightly by 0.9 percent from $5.5 billion recorded in March this year.

Also in April, the volume of production for selected industries posted a slower growth rate of 2.6 percent from a year earlier, also according to NSO data.

Imports grew year on year because of an increased inventory of semiconductors in preparation for busier production in the second half of the year, according to Cid Terosa, an economist at the University of Asia and the Pacific.

However, Terosa said factory output declined due to a buildup of production inputs for the third and fourth quarter.

“The second quarter is usually a slower period for factory production,” Terosa said.

NSO documents showed that total trade for April amounted to $9.8 billion, or 19.8 percent higher than the $8.2 billion in the same month last year. The balance of trade in goods last April was a deficit of $1.2 billion compared with last year’s deficit of $957 million.

Raw materials and intermediate goods accounted for 43.2 percent of total imports at $2.4 billion. This was up 43.2 percent from last year’s $1.7 billion. Compared with the previous month’s $2.8 billion, this was down 15.4 percent.

Imports of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials surged 60.5 percent to $1.4 billion from $868 million in April last year.

The United States accounted for 11.1 percent of the total import bill, or $609.5 million, in April, an increase of 26.5 percent from $481.74 million a year ago.

Meanwhile, a separate NSO report said that lower production from the basic metals industry pulled down overall growth despite significant gains from nine major sectors, namely non-metallic mineral products, beverages, publishing and printing, paper and paper products, furniture and fixtures, rubber and plastic products, chemical products, miscellaneous manufactures, and fabricated metal products.

In March this year, factory output grew 9.7 percent, which was slower than the 12.5-percent year on year growth posted last February and the 14.6-percent jump in January.