Imports increase by 30.3 percent in January

Merchandise imports in January 2010 amounted to US$4.3 billion, rising by 30.3 percent from the same month last year and by 9.4 percent compared to December 2009, according to preliminary reports of the National Statistics Office (NSO).
“The surge in imports was supported by the growth in inward shipments of capital goods, mineral fuels and lubricants, and consumer goods,” acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Augusto B. Santos said in his memorandum for the President.
The faster recovery of merchandise imports relative to merchandise exports resulted in a trade deficit of US$682 million in the first month of the year.
The highest growth among import items was posted by mineral fuels and lubricants as these surged by 96.2 percent in January compared to the same month in 2009.
“The increase in imports of mineral fuels and lubricants was partially due to price effects as Dubai oil price went up by 73.4 percent from January 2009 to an average of US$76.69 per barrel in January 2010,” Santos said.
On the other hand, capital goods imports increased by 51.4 percent year-on-year as all items posted substantial growth rates. Leading the increase were aircraft, ships and boats (127.5%), land transport equipment (69.9%), and telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery (63.1%).
Additionally, imports of consumer goods increased by 70.6 percent, supported by both durable (30.2%) and non-durable goods (109.2%). Among non-durable goods, rice imports posted the highest growth at 153,599.2 percent.
“The spike in rice imports was due to the mitigating measures of the National Food Authority (NFA) for the negative impact of El Niño,” Santos said.
Last January 2010, the NFA released guidelines on the importation of the country specific quota of 163,000 metric tons of rice for 2010.
Meanwhile, for first time since May 2009, the United States emerged as the biggest source of Philippine imports, with a share of 13.4 percent of the country’s total imports in January 2010. Following the US were Singapore (12.7%), Japan (11.5%), PR China (8.6%), and Taiwan ROC (7.3%).
Telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery, raw materials for electronic manufactures, and miscellaneous mineral fuels and lubricants comprised 44.3 percent of the total payments to the top five import sources in January.
In addition, inward cargoes from the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) covered 30.8 percent of the total merchandise imports in January.
“The rise in Philippine imports mirrored developments in East and Southeast Asia as the countries in the region also posted significant double-digit growth rates, except for Japan with only 9.1 percent,” Santos added.
For 2010, the Development Budget Coordinating Committee’s emerging estimate for imports growth is 13.0-15.0 percent.