Exports drop, imports slow down in November

By Christine Joyce S. Castaneda
Trade activity softened in November as exports declined while imports slowed.
Preliminary results from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed merchandise exports declining 0.3% to $5.569 billion in November, a reversal from the growth performances of 5.5% in October and 14.2% in November 2017. The November reading snapped five straight months of export growth in 2018.
Meanwhile, import payments rose 6.8% year on year to $9.469 billion in November, easing from the double-digit growth of 21.4% in October and 20.1% in November 2017.
This brought the country’s trade deficit to $3.901 billion, an increase from $3.280 billion a year ago.
To date, exports contracted by 0.9% to $62.767 billion against the two-percent target of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) for full-year 2018.
On the other hand, imports grew 15.8% to $100.455 billion versus the DBCC’s nine percent projection for the year.
Cumulatively, the country’s trade balance posted a $37.687 billion deficit, much bigger than the $23.408 billion shortfall during 2017’s comparable eleven months.
The United States is the Philippines’ top export market in November with a 16% share at $893.20 million followed by Japan’s 14.7% ($819.07 million) and Hong Kong’s 13.1% ($729.01 million).
Meanwhile, China was the country’s top source of imports with an 18.7% share ($1.766 billion) followed by Korea’s 10.9% ($1.03 billion) and Japan’s 9.5% ($903.28 million).