RP exports rebound in June

MANILA, Philippines - Merchandise exports recovered in June after posting declines in the past three months, as overseas sales of electronic products improved. A report released Friday by the National Statistics Office showed that earnings from outward shipment of goods in June rose 8.3% to $4.49 billion from $4.15 billion the same month last year. After recording three consecutive months of decline, outward shipments of electronic products, which account for 58.6% of total export revenue, managed to increase by 6.4% to $2.63 billion in June from $2.47 billion in the same month last year. The US market, which showed a healthy demand for electronic products, drove the rebound, the report said. A report from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said the uptick in worldwide sales of semiconductors in June was due to the continuing strength of international markets, driven particularly by stronger demand from the US. "Key demand drivers for semiconductors — especially personal computers, which account for 40% of semiconductor sales, and mobile phones, which drive about 20% of demand — continued to show double-digit unit growth," SIA President George Scalise said. In a related development, JPMorgan recently revised upwards its forecast for unit sales of personal computers to 13%, with sharp increases in sales of portable systems. Forecast for unit sales growth of mobile handsets range from 10% to 12% for 2008. "Emerging markets are a major factor in driving worldwide semiconductor sales," Mr. Scalise added. However, University of the Philippines economist and professor Benjamin E. Diokno said in a phone interview that the figures for June could only be a "bounce" effect. "This can be because last year’s figure of 2.3% was abnormally low," Mr. Diokno said. "It is hard to draw any positive conclusion from the figure that we see today, because it’s only one time, we can’t say if it can be sustained for the next months," he added. The Philippine government originally forecasted exports to grow by 6% this year. But due to the continued softening in global demand for electronic products, as well as the slowing US economy, the government slashed this down to 5%. "We still feel that the average export performance at the end of the year is in the vicinity of 5%," Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis said. Exports for the first half of the year grew 4% to $25.58 billion from $24.6 billion in the same period last year. Export growth for the entire 2007 stood at 6.1%. Other top export gainers were coconut oil, cathodes and sections of cathodes of refined copper, metal components, woodcrafts and furniture, and ignition wiring set and other wiring sets used in vehicles. The US remained the Philippines’ biggest export market, accounting for 15.6% of total export earnings at $702.74 million in June. Japan followed with a 14.5% share or $652.36 million, then China with 10.9% or $491.43 million. Other top destinations were Hong Kong, The Netherlands, Germany, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan. — Daniel Anne B. Nepomuceno, BusinessWorld