TOTAL merchandise trade for September 2003 declined 1.1% to $6.309 billion from $6.381 billion during the same period a year ago.
Dollar-inflow generated by exports amounted to $3.264 billion, or 2.3% higher than last year’s $3.191 billion.
On the other hand, expenditures for imported goods fell 4.5% to $3.046 billion from $3.190 billion.
Accounting for 47% of the total aggregate import bill, payments for electronic products amounted to $1.431 billion or 5.9% lower than last year’s $1.521 billion. Compared to the previous month, dollar-outflow dropped by 3.2% from $1.478 billion.
Purchases of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials ranked second with 9.8% share. Expenditures incurred at $297.23 million, registered a 0.5% increase over the previous level which stood at $295.85 million.
Industrial machinery and equipment, the third top import reported purchases worth $136.24 million, or a 0.6% decline from $137.12 million last year.
Transport equipment accounting for 3.8% of the total imports, ranked fourth as foreign bill amounted to $116.29 million, up 13.2% from last year’s $102.72 million.
Iron and steel, contributing 2.4% to the total bill, was thw Philippines’ fifth top import for the month with payments placed at $73.89 million or 27.1% lower than last year’s $101.37 million.
Expenditures for telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery, with a 2.4% share to the aggregate bill, grew 19.2 % to $72.11 million from $60.48 million in September 2002.
Rounding up the list of the top imports for September 2003 were: textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles and related products, $68.71 million; cereals and cereal preparation, $63.03 million; plastics in primary and non-primary forms, $60.11 million; and feeding stuff for animals (not including unmilled cereals), $50.11 million.
Aggregate payment for the country’s top ten imports for September 2003 amounted to $2.369 billion or 77.8% of the total bill.
Capital goods comprising 42.6% of the aggregate bill went up by 6.6% year-on-year to $1.298 billion from $1.217 billion. The biggest share went to telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery with a 23.3% share of the total and valued at $708.81 million.
Payments for raw materials and intermediate goods consisting of unprocessed raw materials and semi-processed raw materials accounted for 36.8% of the aggregate bill, as importation declined by 13.8% to $1.122 billion from last year’s reported figure at $1.302 billion.
Expenditures for mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials inched up 0.5% to $297.23 million from $295.85 million during the same period of 2002.
Purchases of consumer goods valued at $221.12 million, dipped 17.2% from $267.18 million in September 2002, while special transactions went down 0.7% to $107 million from $107.76 million.
Imports from Japan accounting for 21.5% of the total import bill, climbed 0.8% to $653.79 million from $648.30 million during the same period last year. Exports to Japan amounted to $489.88 million yielding a two-way trade value of $1.144 billion and a trade deficit for the Philippines placed at $163.92 million.
The US, the country’s second biggest source of imports with a 19% share, reported shipments valued at $579.99 million against exports amounting to $630 million. Total trade amounted to $1.210 billion, with a trade surplus for the Philippines at $50.01 million.
