Exports dropped 25.4% year-on-year in July compared to the 24.8% fall in June. Economists had expected exports to fall 20.8%. Total export revenue amounted to $3.31 billion in July, down from the $4.44 billion a year ago.
The decrease in revenue was mainly due to falling exports of electronic goods, which decreased 25.2% year-on-year, and was worth $1.92 billion, or 57.8% of the total revenue. Of this, exports of components/devices (semiconductors), which comprised 42.8% of total exports, declined 24.8% in July.
Exports of cathodes & sections of cathodes, of refined copper witnessed the biggest annual decrease, down 65.5% in July. Articles of apparel & clothing accessories exports slipped 26.4% on year in July, and exports of coconut oil was down 22.6%. Woodcrafts & furniture exports and exports of ignition wiring set & other wiring sets used in vehicles, aircrafts & ships was down 29.9% and 14.3%, respectively.
Analyzing by types of goods, revenue from exports of manufactured goods amounted to $2.82 billion in July, down 22.3% from the $3.63 billion a year ago. Revenue from total agro-based products declined 11% from the year-ago period in July. Revenue from special transactions and mineral products revenue declined 4.1% and 54.4%, respectively. Also, exports of petroleum products fell 86.6% in July, while revenue from forest products was up 47.3% on year.
Shipments to most major markets fell sharply in July. The U.S. was the biggest destination for Philippine exports, with 17.6% of total exports destined for the American market. Japan was the second largest, with a 16.6% share of total exports. The Netherlands, Hong Kong and China comprised the other major destination markets.
On a monthly basis, exports slid 2.8% in July compared to the 10.3% growth in the previous month.
Last week, the Statistics Office announced that consumer prices rose 0.1% year-on-year in August compared to 0.2% in the previous month. Consumer prices excluding volatile goods were up 2.9% in August.
The Philippine peso gained against the major currencies, following the release of the export data.
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