Gradual recovery in PH exports seen in June 2020

PHILIPPINE merchandise exports for June 2020 shows a gradual recovery of trade amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

According to preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), June 2020 exports decreased only by 13.3 percent to US$5.3 billion from US$6.1 billion in the same month last year. This is a marked improvement from the 35.6 percent decline recorded in May 2020.

“Several countries have revised their global outlook and the Philippines has followed suit with Development Budget Coordination Committee’s (DBCC) lowering its forecasts for the year. A sustained deceleration would most likely lead to a single-digit annual contraction,” said DTI Undersecretary for Trade Promotions Abdulgani Macatoman.

“We are working to resume trade with many country partners to improve exports for the rest of the year. Thus, we again call for both national and local governments to ensure the unhampered flow of goods, especially now that NCR and nearby provinces are under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ),” added Macatoman.

Consistent with the long-standing structure of merchandise exports, electronics accounted for over half of the country’s total merchandise exports (56.6 percent) in the review period, while non-electronics made up the remaining 43.4 percent.

Electronics exports went down by 14.9 percent in the first six months of the year to $18.9 billion from $16.1 billion in the same period in 2019. In terms of the difference in export value, only two sectors in the electronics industry posted positive growth rates: control and instrumentation; and automotive electronics.

The Top 5 electronics exports in terms of value continued to contribute over 96 percent share in the total yearto-date (YTD) industry value and over 50 percent in the total Philippine exports value. Consistently the top Philippine merchandise and electronics exports, semiconductors, still get the lion share of electronics exports at 77.8 percent, and 42.7 percent of total Philippine merchandise exports. However, its total exports went down by 10 percent to $12.6 billin in January to June 2020 from $13.9 billion in the same period in 2019. /