Foreign Trade: Exports

• Foreign trade is the system by which countries exchange goods and services. Countries trade with each other to obtain things that are better quality, less expensive or simply different from goods and services produced at home. The goods and services that are sold to other countries are called exports.
• The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) free on board (FOB) value of export goods in August 2016 amounted to $118,358,552. The FOB value decreased by 2.14% from the amount of $120,948,251 last July 2016, and decreased by 6.62% from the FOB value of exports in the amount of $126,759,844 last June 2016.

• The region produced 200,207 kilograms (kg) of export goods for August 2016, a decrease of 42.19 percent from the recorded 346,376 kg production last July 2016.

Exports By Commodity

• Among the commodities, machinery and mechanical appliances, electrical equipment, parts thereof, sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles continue to rank first with a share of 76.5% in export sales and amounting to $90,566,760 in export receipts. These goods shared 80.5% in the regional exports last July 2016 which is equivalent to $97,420,696.
• Vehicles, aircrafts, vessels and associated transport equipment with $26,492,798 FOB value came next comprising 22.4% in export sales for August 2016, and 18.3% during the previous month.
• Works of art, collectors’ pieces and antiques ranked third contributing 0.4% in export sales equivalent to $484,426 for August 2016 compared to a 0.0% share in export sales equivalent to $3,221 for the previous month.
• Textiles and textiles articles contributed 0.4% in export sales valued at $474,286 for August 2016 as compared to the 0.4% share last July 2016 which is equal to $485,834 exports value.
• Raw hides and skins, leather, fur skins and articles thereof; saddlery and harness; travel goods, handbags and similar containers; articles of animal gut (other than silkworm gut) contributed 0.1% in export sales amounting to $150,283 for August 2016. These goods were ranked third in the previous month with a 0.5% share or equivalent to $565,891 in exports value.
• The plastics and articles thereof; rubber and articles thereof had the least share in export sales amounting to only $35,877 FOB value for August 2016, as compared to the goods’ FOB value of $139,451 in July 2016.
• Miscellaneous commodities had no share in export sales for August 2016.
• Singapore was the main destination with 46.4% of export goods that consist of machineries and mechanical appliances, electrical equipment, parts thereof, sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles with the total receipts of $41,986,717. This was followed by The Netherlands at 33.3% with export sales value of $30,181,924.
• Other countries that bought machineries and mechanical appliances from the region were the United States of America ($5,264,057), Taiwan ($3,408,811), Hong Kong ($3,092,280), People’s Republic of China ($3,045,457), Japan ($2,281,327), Thailand ($686,543), Malaysia ($521,965), UK of Great Britain and N. Ireland ($28,509), Mexico ($25,511), Germany ($11,219), Poland ($9,928), India ($5,891), and Republic of Korea ($538).

Country of Destination

• As of August 2016, CAR largely exported to 3 countries, namely Singapore, The Netherlands, and United States of America. Singapore had the biggest share of the region’s exports at 38.9% with total value of $42,838,335, followed by The Netherlands with 27.5% amounting to $30,287,665 and the United States of America at 16.9% or equivalent to $18,553,187 in total exports value.
• The region also exported goods to countries such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. Exports to these countries registered total sales of $1,754,168 accounting to 1.6% of the region’s total exports receipts.
• The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member countries are the primary foreign trading partners of the region. APEC is composed of 21 member countries, namely: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United States of America, and Vietnam.
• In August 2016, the region’s total exports receipts from APEC countries amounted to $78,017,560 representing 65.9% of the total export receipts of the region. Meanwhile, exports to non-APEC countries comprised 34.1% of the total goods and commodities exported which were valued at $40,340,992.
• Among the APEC member countries, Singapore topped the region’s foreign exports sales receipts registering 54.9%, followed by the United State of America at 23.7%, Japan at 6.6%, Taiwan at 4.6%, People’s Republic of China at 4.2%, Hong Kong at 4.0% and other APEC countries at 2.0%.

Technical Notes

Free on Board Value (FOB) - is the value of the goods free on board the carrier at the frontier of the exporting country. It includes inland freight, export duty and other expenses. In addition, the value of goods in the Philippine foreign trade statistics is FOB.

Country of Destination (Exports only) - it is the country where the goods are to be consumed, further processed, or manufactured.

Country of Origin (Imports only) - it is the country where the goods are mined, grown, or manufactured or where each foreign material used or incorporated in a good underwent a change in tariff classification indicating a substantial transformation under the applicable rule of origin for the good.

Exports - the goods and services that are sold to other countries.

Imports - the goods and services that a country buys from other countries.

PSCC (Philippine Standard Commodity Classification) - is used to classify the imported commodities at the most detailed level for statistical purposes.