THE value of electronics exports in the 11 months to November rose 4.57% year-on-year, the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc. (SEIPI) said.
SEIPI said shipments in the period totaled $34.87 billion, against the year-earlier $33.5 billion.
Electronics products thereby accounted for 55.56% of total Philippine exports during the 11 months.
Of the nine electronics product categories, six posted gains during the period, led by consumer electronics which rose 86.15% to $549.42 million.
Other sectors that increased during the period were office equipment (39.09%); automotive electronics (18.85%), control and instrumentation (131.85%); electronic data processing (7.73%); and components/devices or semiconductors (3.09%).
Meanwhile, communication/radar, medical/industrial instrumentation and telecommunication posted year-on-year declines in export receipts of 20.97%, 20.65% and 13.23% respectively.
The year-to-date total is short of SEIPI’s 2018 target of boosting export revenue by 6%, in line with the association’s goal to expand electronics export sales to $40 billion in 2025 and $50 billion in 2030.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, electronics shipments in 2017 accounted for over half of total merchandise export sales, rising 11% to $32.7 billion.
In November, the industry accounted for 56.66% or $3.16 billion of total Philippine exports.
Electronics shipments during the month fell 1.62% from a year earlier and 3.04% from October. — Janina C. Lim

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