ELECTRONICS EXPORTS in the first seven months grew 5.38% year-on-year to $21.61 billion, the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc. (SEIPI) said.
Of nine product categories, six posted gains during the period, led by consumer electronics where exports rose 82.64% to $335.36 million.
Electronics accounted for 56% of the $5.86 billion total Philippine exports in July.
In July, electronics exports rose 5.21% to $3.28 billion, with five of nine product lines posting gains — consumer electronics, office equipment, control and instrumentation, electronic data processing and components/devices or semiconductors.
Posting declines were medical/industrial instruments, automotive electronics, telecommunication and communication equipment and radar.
Compare to June, electronics exports fell 2.76%.
Hong Kong was the biggest export market in July, accounting for 21.85% of the total, followed by the United States and China with 14.11% and 13.74% respectively.
Export revenue growth in July was behind the pace of SEIPI’s growth target for 2018 of 6%, though the organization said it remains confident it will achieve its goal despite heightened trade tensions between China and the United States.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority electronic products in 2017 made up slightly more than half of total merchandise export sales, rising 11% to $32.7 billion.
SEIPI hopes to boost electronics exports to $40 billion by 2025 and $50 billion by 2030. — Janina C. Lim

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