Agricultural trade deficit widens 2.2% in January

THE DEFICIT in the agricultural goods trade in January widened 2.2% year on year to $1.03 billion, according to preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The PSA said that the year-earlier deficit had contracted by 1.4%.

Agricultural exports in January declined 1.3% year on year to $706.41 million, accounting for 10% of total exports. As a share of the $2.44 billion in two-way trade in farm products, exports accounted for 28.91%.

Imports of agricultural commodities in January rose 0.7% year on year to $1.74 billion, accounting for 15.6% of overall farm imports.

Two-way agricultural trade in January grew 0.2% year on year.

The PSA said exports of edible fruit and nuts, including peels of citrus fruit and melons, grew 21% year on year to $235.02 million in January, accounting for 33.3% of agricultural exports.

Exports of animal, vegetable, or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; and animal or vegetable waxes declined 16.4% year on year to $220.63 million in January, accounting for 31.23% of agricultural exports.

Agricultural shipments to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in January hit $57.43 million, with top buyer Malaysia accounting for $16.88 million or 29.39% of the total.

Exports to the Netherlands, the Philippines’ top destination for agricultural commodities in the European Union (EU), amounted to $118.07 million or 75.07% of Philippine agricultural exports to the region.

Among the major commodity groups, cereals accounted for the largest share of agricultural imports in January, totaling $412.69 million or 23.8%.

The value of cereal imports surged 25.5% in January, following the resumption of rice imports after a four-month ban that started in September.

Vietnam was the leading supplier of agricultural products to the Philippines within ASEAN, accounting for $211.39 million or 33.32% of farm imports from the region.

The top agricultural goods imported from ASEAN were cereals and animal, vegetable, or microbial fats and oils, and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; and animal or vegetable waxes.

Within the EU, Spain remains the Philippines’ top supplier of agricultural commodities, with imports valued at $40.27 million, or 25.94% of shipments from the region.

The top agricultural commodities from the EU were meat and edible meat offal. — Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel