PH trade gap narrowed to $4.303B in June - PSA

The Philippine trade deficit narrowed in June as exports contracted at a faster rate than imports during the month, data released by the government on Tuesday showed.

Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the balance of trade in goods (BoT-G) posted a $4.303-billion deficit in June, lower than the $4.707-billion deficit in May but wider than the $3.936 billion in June 2023.

A deficit indicates that the value of a country's imports exceeded export receipts, while a surplus indicates more export shipments than imports.

Exports for the month stood at $5.566 billion, lower than the $6.330 billion in May and $6.730 billion the same month last year.

The biggest annual decreases were seen in the exports of electronic products by $965.14 million to $2.990 billion; cathodes and sections of cathodes by $97.13 million to $82.41 million; other manufactured goods by $59.99 to $285.56 million; machinery and transport equipment by $53.15 million to $173.21 million; and other mineral products by $49.52 million to $252.03 million.

Exports of manufactured goods accounted for the biggest share with $4.34 billion or 78.0%, followed by mineral products with $632.40 million or 11.4%, and total agro-based products with $473.49 million or 7.9%.

Shipments to the United States accounted for the highest export value with $897.80 million, followed by Hong Kong with $886.64 million, China with $868.44 million, Japan with $746.97 million, and South Korea with $240.26 million.

Imports for the month were recorded at $9.869 billion, down from $11.038 billion in May and $10.667 billion in June 2023.

In terms of commodity groups, electronic products accounted for $2.23 billion or 22.6%; followed by mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials with $1.57 billion; and transport equipment with $787.92 million.

In terms of major types of goods, imports of raw materials and intermediate goods had the biggest share with $3.54 billion or 35.9%. Capital goods came in second with $2.82 billion or 28.6%, and consumer goods with $1.90 billion or 19.2%.

China was the biggest source of imports with $2.60 billion or 26.3%, followed by Indonesia with $861.69 million or 8.7%, Japan with $763.20 million or 7.7%, South Korea with $715.14 million or 7.2%, and the United States with $658.00 million or 6.7%.

The latest figures brought the total trade to $15.435 billion, down from $17.369 billion the previous month and $17.397 billion a year ago. — VBL, GMA Integrated News