By Beatriz Marie D. Cruz, Reporter
THE PHILIPPINES’ trade-in-goods deficit ballooned to $4.3 billion in June as imports and exports contracted, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Tuesday.
Preliminary data from the PSA showed that the country’s trade-in-goods balance — the difference between exports and imports — stood at a $4.3-billion deficit in June, 9.3% bigger than the $3.94-billion gap in the same month last year.
Month on month, the June trade gap shrank from the $4.71-billion deficit in May.
For the first six months of the year, the trade deficit narrowed by 9.5% to $25 billion.
The country’s balance of trade in goods has been in the red for 109 straight months (nine years) or since the $64.95-million surplus in May 2015.
In June, the value of exports slumped by 17.3% to $5.57 billion from $6.73 billion a year ago, the first double-digit decline since November 2023. Month on month, exports slid by 12%.
This was the lowest export value in 13 months or since $4.92 billion in April last year.
Year to date, exports rose by 3% to $36.41 billion.
On the other hand, the value of imports declined by 7.5% year on year to $9.87 billion in June from $10.67 billion in the same month a year ago. Month on month, it dropped by 10.6%.
The value of imports was the lowest since $9.57 billion in March, the PSA said.
For the first six months, imports slipped by 2.5% to $61.41 billion.
“Exports are among one-year lows and imports also near one-year lows amid slower economic conditions in China, the world’s second-biggest economy and among the country’s biggest trading partners,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Facebook Messenger chat.
The Development Budget Coordination Committee projects 5% and 2% growth in exports and imports, respectively, this year.
DROP IN ELECTRONICS EXPORTS
Among major types of goods, manufactured goods exports dropped by 21.1% year on year to $4.34 billion in June but still made up the bulk or 78% of the total. Exports of mineral products slipped by 7.7% to $632.4 million.
By commodity group, exports of electronic goods fell by 24.4% to $2.99 billion in June from $3.96 billion a year ago. Electronic products accounted for 53.7% of the country’s total exports in June. Among electronic products, semiconductor exports slid by 29.5% to $2.32 billion in June.
Exports of other manufactured goods dropped by 17.36% year on year to $285.56 million, accounting for 5.1% of total exports.
Exports of other mineral products slipped by 16.4% to $252.03 million in June.
The United States remained the top destination for Philippine-made goods, with exports valued at $897.8 million. This made up 16.1% of the country’s total exports in June.
Hong Kong was the second-biggest market for Philippine exports with a value of $886.64 million (15.9% share), followed by China with $868.44 million (15.6%), Japan with $746.97 million (13.4%) and South Korea with $240.26 million (4.3%).
Other top export destinations include the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, Germany and Thailand.
IMPORTS
Meanwhile, imports of raw materials and intermediate goods declined by 10.3% to $3.54 billion in June. This accounted for 35.9% of the total imports in June.
Imported capital goods slipped by 8.8% to $2.82 billion, while imports of consumer goods went down by 7.3% to $1.9 billion.
In terms of value, electronics had the highest import value at $2.23 billion in June, up by 5.3% from last year. It made up 22.6% of the total imports in June.
Imports of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials rose by 2.2% year on year to $1.57 billion in June, while transport equipment slid by an annual 36% to $787.92 million.
George N. Manzano, who teaches political economy at the University of Asia and the Pacific, said the lower imports of transport equipment could be attributed to the weaker peso.
The peso weakened by 13.4 centavos to close at P58.66 at end-June from its P58.52 finish at end-May.
“Because capital goods and raw material imports are indicators of future production, this may mean weaker production in the near future,” Mr. Manzano said in a Viber message.
In June, China was the biggest source of imports valued at $2.6 billion, accounting for 26.3% of the total import bill.
It was followed by Indonesia with imports valued at $861.69 million (8.7% share), Japan with $763.2 million (7.7%), South Korea with $715.14 million (7.2%) and the United States with $658 million (6.7%).