Table 3  Philippine Imports by Major Type of Goods
         March and February 2012 and March 2011
         (FOB in Thousand U.S. Dollars)

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                                                        2012                   |       2011         |    Growth Rate
Commodity Group                             March p       |    February r      |       March        |        (%)
                                       FOB Value  % Share | FOB Value  % Share | FOB Value  % Share |  Monthly    Annual
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Total Imports                          5,371,104   100.00   4,996,478   100.00   5,552,508   100.00        7.5      (3.3)

Capital Goods                          1,312,175    24.43   1,616,753    32.36   1,244,851    22.42      (18.8)      5.4

  Power generating and specialized
    machines                             295,732     5.51     303,670     6.08     292,992     5.28       (2.6)      0.9
  Office and electronic data
    processing machines                  173,092     3.22     195,503     3.91     135,432     2.44      (11.5)     27.8
  Telecommunication equipment
    and electrical machines              614,592    11.44     792,288    15.86     654,528    11.79      (22.4)     (6.1)
  Land transport equipment excluding
    passenger cars and motorized cycle   111,296     2.07     102,496     2.05      86,138     1.55        8.6      29.2
  Aircraft, Ships and Boats               68,003     1.27     168,935     3.38      28,674     0.52      (59.7)    137.2
  Professional scientific and control-
    ling instruments, photographic
    equipment and optical goods           49,460     0.92      53,861     1.08      47,088     0.85       (8.2)      5.0

Raw Materials & Intermediate Goods     1,875,505    34.92   1,735,006    34.72   2,804,874    50.52        8.1     (33.1)

  Unprocessed Raw Materials              235,202     4.38     191,311     3.83     300,827     5.42       22.9     (21.8)
       Wheat                              87,496     1.63      78,021     1.56      95,196     1.71       12.1      (8.1)
       Corn                                7,908     0.15      16,330     0.33       4,293     0.08      (51.6)     84.2
       Unmilled cereals excluding
         rice and corn                       652     0.01       1,000     0.02       1,057     0.02      (34.7)    (38.3)
       Crude materials, inedible         121,437     2.26      83,368     1.67     189,013     3.40       45.7     (35.8)
             Pulp & waste paper            5,728     0.11       4,676     0.09       7,286     0.13       22.5     (21.4)
             Cotton                        1,390     0.03       1,309     0.03       4,957     0.09        6.2     (72.0)
             Syn. Fibers                   5,999     0.11       9,110     0.18       9,837     0.18      (34.2)    (39.0)
             Metalliferous ores           61,341     1.14      26,648     0.53     110,996     2.00      130.2     (44.7)
             Others                       46,980     0.87      41,625     0.83      55,938     1.01       12.9     (16.0)
       Tobacco, unmanufactured            17,710     0.33      12,592     0.25      11,268     0.20       40.6      57.2
  Semi-Processed Raw Materials         1,640,303    30.54   1,543,696    30.90   2,504,047    45.10        6.3     (34.5)
       Feeding stuffs for animals         68,640     1.28      65,777     1.32      49,351     0.89        4.4      39.1
       Animal & vegetable oils & fats     51,484     0.96      48,610     0.97      44,768     0.81        5.9      15.0
       Chemical                          536,140     9.98     512,616    10.26     593,014    10.68        4.6      (9.6)
             Chemical compounds          145,612     2.71     134,634     2.69     164,070     2.95        8.2     (11.3)
             Medicinal &
               pharmaceutical chemicals   84,904     1.58      73,799     1.48      96,943     1.75       15.0     (12.4)
             Urea                          6,799     0.13      23,348     0.47       9,800     0.18      (70.9)    (30.6)
             Fertilizer excl. urea        22,084     0.41       7,751     0.16      18,278     0.33      184.9      20.8
             Artificial resins           140,951     2.62     142,661     2.86     142,743     2.57       (1.2)     (1.3)
             Others                      135,791     2.53     130,422     2.61     161,181     2.90        4.1     (15.8)
       Manufactured goods                430,349     8.01     394,145     7.89     499,556     9.00        9.2     (13.9)
             Paper & paper products       61,699     1.15      55,157     1.10      75,157     1.35       11.9     (17.9)
             Textile yarn, fabrics
               and made-up articles       58,946     1.10      39,606     0.79      64,196     1.16       48.8      (8.2)
             Non-metallic mineral
              manufactures                35,975     0.67      36,361     0.73      37,556     0.68       (1.1)     (4.2)
             Iron & steel                117,465     2.19     107,366     2.15     124,369     2.24        9.4      (5.6)
             Non-ferrous metals           63,475     1.18      62,379     1.25      91,715     1.65        1.8     (30.8)
             Metal products               52,863     0.98      57,800     1.16      68,939     1.24       (8.5)    (23.3)
             Others                       39,926     0.74      35,475     0.71      37,624     0.68       12.5       6.1
       Embroideries                        8,674     0.16       7,885     0.16       3,148     0.06       10.0     175.5
       Materials/Accessories for the
         manufacture of electrical
         equipment                       545,014    10.15     514,663    10.30   1,314,209    23.67        5.9     (58.5)
       Iron ore, not agglomerated              -        -           -        -           -        -          -         -

Mineral Fuels, Lubricant &
Related Materials                      1,542,873    28.73   1,005,733    20.13     884,449    15.93       53.4      74.4

  Coal, Coke                              37,440     0.70      46,860     0.94      50,817     0.92      (20.1)    (26.3)
  Petroleum crude                      1,073,959    20.00     558,918    11.19     493,910     8.90       92.1     117.4
  Others                                 431,474     8.03     399,955     8.00     339,722     6.12        7.9      27.0

Consumer Goods                           593,791    11.06     591,263    11.83     556,540    10.02        0.4       6.7

  Durable                                270,646     5.04     293,048     5.87     262,864     4.73       (7.6)      3.0
       Passenger cars & motorized cycle  148,779     2.77     180,763     3.62     144,069     2.59      (17.7)      3.3
       Home appliances                    24,490     0.46      22,395     0.45      29,925     0.54        9.4     (18.2)
       Misc. manufactures                 97,377     1.81      89,890     1.80      88,871     1.60        8.3       9.6
  Non-Durable                            323,144     6.02     298,215     5.97     293,676     5.29        8.4      10.0
       Food & live animals
         chiefly for food                291,187     5.42     278,571     5.58     274,638     4.95        4.5       6.0
             Dairy products               63,540     1.18      71,683     1.43      65,345     1.18      (11.4)     (2.8)
             Fish & fish preparation      21,490     0.40      17,634     0.35      15,471     0.28       21.9      38.9
             Rice                         11,985     0.22       7,577     0.15       1,198     0.02       58.2     900.7
             Fruits & vegetables          33,846     0.63      29,663     0.59      26,588     0.48       14.1      27.3
             Others                      160,324     2.98     152,014     3.04     166,035     2.99        5.5      (3.4)
       Beverages & tobacco mfture.         7,250     0.13       4,904     0.10       5,208     0.09       47.8      39.2
       Articles of apparel, access.       24,708     0.46      14,740     0.30      13,830     0.25       67.6      78.7

Special Transactions                      46,761     0.87      47,722     0.96      61,793     1.11       (2.0)    (24.3)

  Articles temporarily imported &
   exported                               19,187     0.36      22,015     0.44      17,096     0.31      (12.8)     12.2
  Others                                  27,574     0.51      25,708     0.51      44,697     0.80        7.3     (38.3)

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Source:  Foreign Trade Statistics Section
         Industry and Trade Statistics Department
         National Statistics Office
         Republic of the Philippines

Note:    Components may not add up to total due to rounding.
         p  Preliminary
         r  Revised


Page last updated:  May 25, 2012
Related press release | Foreign trade statistics index