Philippines sees exports down in November

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Philippines’ exports stood at 5.1 billion USD in November 2015, a slight drop of 1.1 percent from the same period in 2014, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on January 12.

The latest figure brought the January to November export value to 54 billion USD, down 5.8 percent from the previous year.

Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said it would be difficult to meet the country’s export target for the year 2015 as the global economy remains weak, which in turn translates into weak demand for Philippine export products.

Balisacan said in order to achieve the 2015 full-year target, merchandise exports in December 2015 would have to come to 11 billion USD, equivalent to a growth of 129 percent year-on-year.

The Philippines recorded the least export decline among East and Southeast Asian countries for November 2015. Most economies in the region recorded lower merchandise exports, with the exception of Vietnam, the official said.

Total export receipts from agro-based products were down 23.1 percent to 240.6 million USD in November 2015 on account of lower revenues from fruits and vegetables, as well as fish, unmanufactured tobacco, and natural rubber.

Exports receipt from petroleum and forest products plunged 69.3 percent and 79.5 percent, respectively.

Japan is the leading export market of Philippines in the month, accounting for 21.3 percent, followed by the US at 14 percent and China at 9.8 percent.-VNA