THE value of exports and imports in the Cordillera region decreased in October 2018, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on March 19.
The agency recorded the free on board (FOB) value of imports at $117.67 million, 19 percent lower than the $144.5 million recorded in October 2017.
The FOB value of exports, meanwhile, reached only $68.46 million in the same month, a 50.9-percent drop from the $139.47 million recorded in the same period in 2017.
Among the top imported commodities were electrical machinery and equipment, commodities and transactions, aircraft and spacecraft, nuclear reactors and machinery, and optical, photographic and surgical instruments.
The five commodity groups in 2018 accounted for $112.162 million.
Korea was the region’s top source of imports, accounting for a total of $43.511 million or 37 percent of the total value of imports.
Majority of the imported products from Korea were electrical machinery and equipment and parts, sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers and parts and accessories of such articles billed at $42.021 million, or 35.7 percent, and aircraft, spacecraft, and parts worth $528,504 or 0.5 percent.
The USA ranked as the region’s second largest source of imports, accounting for a fourth of total imports, or 25 percent, at $29.469 million.
Imported goods purchased from USA consisted of commodities and transactions worth $11,412,251 or 9.6 percent of the region’s total imports. Aircraft, spacecraft, and parts thereof ranked the second highest import from USA with $9,864,929 or 8.4 percent.
Taiwan ranked third, accounting for $15.185 million or 12.9 percent while Japan ranked fourth with total imports amounting to $11.332 million, or 9.6 percent, of the total FOB value.
Meanwhile, machinery and mechanical appliances were among the top exports of the Cordillera region with 50.3 percent share.
The PSA report said mechanical appliances, machinery, sound recorders, electrical equipment and reproducers ranked first among the export commodities of the Cordillera, amounting to $38.413 million and $34.422 million in September and October 2018, respectively.
This was followed by transport equipment such as aircraft, vehicles, vessels with a share of 33.8 percent, or $23.149 million in export sales.
Artworks, and antiques contributed 13 percent with sales of $8.9 million followed by precious metals, stones, and jewelry with 1.6 percent share.
Meanwhile, commodities such as raw skins, leathers, plastics and miscellaneous chemical products accounted for 0.9 percent in the total value of exports.
Cordillera mostly exported products to Netherlands with 24.2 percent share or $16.6 million, followed by United States with $15.36 million, and Singapore with $8.6 million. The region also exported to Japan amounting to $4.812 million. (Lauren Alimondo)