DTI expects recovery in exports starting Q2

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) expects exports to recover starting in the second quarter this year while the domestic market also presents an attractive option for exporters because of the strong consumer appetite.

Senen Perlada, director of the DTI Export Marketing Bureau said the projected recovery of the country’s exports is based on the business expectations survey.

Merchandise exports declined 6.0 percent yearon-year to $15.8 billion in the first quarter this year versus the same period in 2017.

“We forecast electronics would continue on its growth trend, while non-electronics will start to recover from its double-digit decline,” Perlada said.

For the entire year, Perlada expressed confidence the country’s exports will grow this year in the high single digit of between 8-9 percent with both merchandize exports growing and services exports still going strong. The BPO sector still remains strong despite fears of a slowdown.

But it would be mostly likely that the country’s exports level would settle at the lower end of the $122 billion-$130 billion exports growth target by 2022.

To hit the higher range of the target would mean more government resources for added promotional efforts in China trade expos.

The upside is that there is a growing domestic demand for non-electronics products, mostly agriculture products and now account for 56 percent of total exports.

For instance, he said the Philippines is a heavy net importer of cacao and coffee products. There is also strong demand for furniture and household fixtures because of the strong demand for residential units.

“The domestic market is huge and it is competing with export supply of mangoes, banana chips,” he added. There was a strong clamor for “pili” nuts supply in the last two trade fairs, he said.

He explained that while this is not really a shift to the domestic market for products intended for exports, there is a strong domestic market.