THE agricultural goods trade was in deficit by $3.01 billion in the third quarter, widening by 1.5% year-on-year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
In a report, the PSA said agricultural trade — the sum of exports and imports — rose 12.1% to $6.69 billion, reversing an 11.8% year-earlier decline.
Agricultural exports rose 21.8% to $1.97 billion for the three months to September, accounting for 10.3% of total exports.
Animal or vegetable fats and oils and their cleavage products, prepared edible fats and animal or vegetable waxes were the top agricultural exports, accounting for 29.5% of the total with a value of $583.43 million.
Farm products shipped to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries accounted for 8.7% of total exports and were valued at $239.85 million.
Malaysia was the Philippines’ top export market for farm goods, accounting for $121.13 million or 50.5% of the Philippines’ farm exports to ASEAN.
Animal or vegetable fats and oils, followed by tobacco, and edible fruits and nuts were the top farm export to ASEAN.
Shipments to the European Union (EU) made up 19.4% of all agricultural exports, and were valued at $410.78 million.
The top destination for Philippine farm products was the Netherlands which took in $185.71 million, or 45.2% of all farm exports to the EU.
Animal or vegetable fats and oils and their cleavage products, prepared edible fats and animal or vegetable waxes were the top agricultural exports to the region.
The PSA reported that imports of agricultural goods rose 8.7% year on year to $4.99 billion in the three months to September.
Cereals remained the top agricultural import in the third quarter at 21% of the total, valued at $1.05 billion.
Imports from the EU amounted to $450.29 million or 24.6% of farm imports by value.
Spain was the top EU supplier of farm goods, accounting for $112.93 million or 24.3% of overall farm imports.
Meat and edible meat offal were the top imports from the EU, followed by dairy, eggs, honey, and prepared animal fodder. — Adrian H. Halili
