The total trade in Eastern Visayas amounted to USD 530.98 million in November 2023.  This indicates an increase of 94.78 percent from the USD 272.61 million total trade in November 2022. 
  
The surge in total trade can be attributed to the increase in imports and exports. Imports more than tripled (271.24%) from USD 72.61 million in November 2022 to USD 269.57 million in November 2023.  Exports increased by 30.71 percent, from USD 199.99 million in November 2022 to USD 261.41 million in November 2023.

The region registered a trade deficit of USD 8.16 million in November 2023 in contrast to the USD 127.38 million trade surplus in the same month of 2022.

EXPORTS

The total volume of goods exported by the region in November 2023 was 104.93 million kilograms with a total value of USD 261.41 million.

Copper and articles thereof commodity group which amounted to USD 256.98 million led the region’s exports in November 2023.  This comprised a large chunk or 98.31 percent of the total value of exports during the month. Other commodity groups contributed less than one percent to the total value of exports.  Fertilisers commodity group valued at USD 2.39 million shared 0.92 percent, while the commodity group of residues and waste from the food industries; prepared animal fodder worth USD 1.80 million was 0.69 percent of the exports value (Table 2).

The People’s Republic of China was the major export destination in November 2023 with  USD 93.20 million or a share of 35.65 percent to the total exports during the month.  Completing the top five (5) export destinations were Taiwan (Republic of China) with USD 41.39 million (15.83%); Thailand with USD 38.47 million (14.72%); India with USD 32.80 million (12.55%); and Vietnam with USD 27.84 million (10.65%) (Table 3).

IMPORTS

The total volume of goods imported by the region in November 2023 was 230.64 million kilograms valued at USD 269.57 million.

Imports were led by the commodity group of ores, slag, and ash. The import value for this commodity group was USD 229.68 million, 85.20 percent of the total import value of the region in November 2023. This was followed by salt; sulphur; earths and stone; plastering materials; lime and cement commodity group with imports worth USD 16.15 million or 5.99 percent of the region's total import value in November 2023.  

The commodity group of mineral fuels, mineral oils, and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes valued at USD 11.35 million comprised 4.21 percent of the region's total import value. The commodity group of cereals worth USD 6.26 million accounted for 2.32 percent of the total import value in November 2023.  Other commodity groups shared less than one percent to the region’s total import value in November 2023 (Table 4).

The major supplier of imported goods in November 2023 was Indonesia which accounted for USD 68.47 million or approximately one-fourth (25.40%) of the total import value of the region. The rest of the top five (5) countries of origin of imports  during the month in review were Australia with USD 62.57 million (23.21%); Brazil with USD 42.76 million (15.86%); Union of Myanmar (Burma) with USD 36.59 million (13.57%) and Canada with USD 20.36 million (7.55%) (Figure 3).

Technical Notes

Export and Import Trade Statistics are compiled by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) from copies of export and import documents submitted to the Bureau of Customs (BOC) by exporters and importers or their authorized representatives as required by law.  PSA collects copies of the following accomplished forms:

1.    Export Declaration (ED – DTI form)
2.    Import Entry & Internal Revenue Declaration (BOC IEIRD Form 236)
3.    Informal Import Declaration and Entry (BOC Form 177)
4.    Single Administrative Documents (SAD)

The output of the Automated Export Documentation System (AEDS) of the BOC is being utilized to generate export statistics. AEDS is a paperless transaction in lieu of the manual filling-up of export documents.

Moreover, an electronic copy of the IEIRD, or SAD, is utilized to capture the monthly import figures.  SAD-IEIRD is an on-line submission of import documents either by brokers or companies.  These are transactions that pass through the Automated Cargo Operating System (ACOS), now called the e2m (electronic to mobile) customs system, a system implemented through the BOC e-Customs Project.

All documents (hard copies and e-files) received before the cut-off date which is every 25th day of the month, are compiled, processed and generated in monthly statistical tables for the preparation of Press Release.  All documents received after the cut-off date, however, are processed and included in the generation of the revised monthly statistical tables. Final data revisions are made annually during the first quarter after the reference year to include documents received after the monthly revisions.

The digitized copies of all documents are provided by BOC and PEZA to PSA on a monthly basis through email.

The 2019 Philippine Standard Commodity Classification (PSCC) is used to classify the commodities at the most detailed 10-digit code level for statistical purposes.

SGD. WILMA A. PERANTE
Regional Director