The PSA data showed that the country’s total imported goods for February 2014 amounted to $4.721 billion. This represented a growth of only 0.3 percent from the $4.707 billion recorded during the same period a year ago.
The growth was also the slowest imports growth in the country since October 2013, when imports contracted 8.6 percent. It was also lower than the 26-percent growth in January 2014.
The PSA said that on a month-on-month basis, imports contracted by 20.7 percent, from the $5.955 billion recorded in January.
“Imports of raw materials and intermediate goods, which grew by 29 percent, and consumer goods, which increased by 6.8 percent, offset the lower payments for inward shipment of mineral fuels and lubricants and capital goods,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said, however.
Payments for imported goods during the period reached $4.72 billion, from $4.71 billion in February 2013.
Total trade-in-goods deficit narrowed to $1.6 billion in the first two months of 2014 from $1.7 billion in the same period a year ago.
Imports of raw materials and intermediate goods reached $2.2 billion in February 2014 and accounted for about 46 percent of total merchandise imports. Raw materials and intermediate goods are used as inputs in the production of other commodities that will be sold domestically or internationally.
“The imports performance of raw materials and intermediate goods was mainly due to the increased inward shipments for both semi-processed and unprocessed raw materials,” said Balisacan, who is also National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) director general.
Meanwhile, the country’s imports that suffered contractions in February were Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials, which posted a contraction of 32.2 percent, and Industrial Machinery Equipment, 5.7 percent.
But of the two, Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials might have contributed more to the slowdown in the country’s imports in February, since it comprised 17.4 percent of the country’s total imports during the period.
These imports, the PSA said, include gas oils, motor spirit (premium unleaded) and aviation spirit, which contribute the biggest share of imports in the Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials commodity group.
Meanwhile, a big chunk of the country’s imports was still accounted for by Electronic Products, which had a 27.1-percent share in the total imports payments in February 2014.
Payments for the import of Electronic Products amounted to $1.281 billion, a 2.2 percent growth from $1.253 billion registered in February 2013. However, on a month-on-month basis, Electronic Products contracted by 0.7 percent from the $1.290 billion posted in January 2014.
Among the major electronic products, Components/Devices (Semiconductors), comprising 22.3 percent of the total imports, had the largest share, with import bill worth $1.051 billion. This represented a 10.3-percent increase from $952.40 million recorded in February 2013.
The country’s top three import sources in February are China, with a share of 12.1 percent, followed by the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, with a 10.3-percent share; and Japan, with a share of 9.9 percent.
China remained the country’s biggest import source, with import payments reaching $571.03 million in February 2014. This represented a 5.3-percent increase from $542.44 million in February 2013.
Import payments to the US reached $487.25 million in February 2014. This was a decrease of 11 percent, from $547.43 million in February 2013.
Payments to Japan for import shipments reached $465.17 million in February 2014. This was a 4.8 percent increase from $443.99 million in February 2013.
In terms of economic bloc, East Asia —China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea and Taiwan—was the biggest source of the country’s imports in February 2014.
The region accounted for 38.6 percent of the total imports, valued at $1.824 billion. It increased by 2 percent from $1.788 billion in February 2013.
Merchandise imported from Association of Southeast Asian Nations members were valued at $1.221 billion. This contributed a 25.9-percent share and increasing by 8.7 percent from $1.123 billion recorded in February 2013.
Imports from the European Union were priced at $621.42 million. It increased by 82.3 percent, compared to the year-ago value of $340.89 million.
