Philippine exports down 4.4 pct in August

Philippine exports dropped 4.4 percent year-on-year to 4.904 billion U.S. dollars in August due to weak demand from traditional markets, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said Tuesday.

Export sales in August last year amounted to 5.128 billion U.S. dollars.

Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), an attached agency of NEDA, attributed the decline to lower demands for machinery and transport equipment (-52.5 percent); metal components (-25.9 percent); chemicals (-16.2 percent); articles of apparel and clothing accessories (-11.3 percent); other manufactures (-9.3 percent); woodcrafts and furniture (-8.8 percent); and coconut oil (-6.9 percent).

"Given the sluggish external environment, the country should focus on diversifying its export markets and improving productivity and competitiveness of industries," said NEDA Officer-in-Charge (OIC) and Deputy Director-General Rosemarie G. Edillon.

"With traditional export markets such as Japan and the United States still showing weak appetite for Philippine exports, new markets should be explored."

Exports to East Asia, particularly China, posted increases and exports to France and Switzerland continued to post double-digit growth rates, 78.1 percent and 68.6 percent, respectively. This cushioned the decline in receipts from other trading partners.

On pushing the country's exports, Edillon recommended tapping new markets such as Russia and Kazakhstan, which are being eyed as potential destinations for agriculture and industrial products. She also called for exploring emerging markets like Kuwait, Mongolia and Malaysia.

"We also need to shift to high-value crops as potential agricultural exports. This can be done if we improve agricultural productivity through investments in modernization efforts, infrastructure and research," said Edillon.

From January to August, total exports fell to 36.409 billion U.S. dollars, 7.8 percent lower than the 39.5 billion U.S. dollars a year ago. Endit