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Through Ana Olivia A. Tirona, Searcher
DOMESTIC TRADE ACTIVITY rebounded slightly in the second quarter from a year earlier, although still lower than the value of locally traded goods in 2019, according to data from the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA).
The preliminary results of the PSA report on “Flow of goods in the Philippines” showed that the value of goods traded in the second quarter increased 24.5% year-on-year to 141.77 billion pesos from 113.84 billion pesos. pesos at the same time last year, when it declined. 46% over one year.
Yet that figure was lower than the 211.01 billion pesos of domestic trade in the second quarter of 2019 before the 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) which has limited economic activity since Fifirst quarter of last year.
Likewise, the volume of these traded goods increased by 30.1% to 3.74 million tonnes against 2.88 million tonnes previously. Similar to the value of the trade, the volume was also signiFisignificantly lower than the 8.11 million tonnes recorded in the second quarter of 2019.
The flow of goods, also known as internal trade, refers to the flow of goods within the country via water, air and rail transportation systems. Almost all the products were mainly facilitated by water transport systems.
Six of the 10 commodity categories tracked by the PSA showed year-over-year growth in trade value. Machinery and transport equipment – which accounted for the largest share of trade in terms of value at 30.9 percent – rose 106.3 percent to 43.83 billion pesos. Its commercial volume also jumped with a growth of 92.9% to 429,583 tonnes.
The fastest annual growth rate was observed in “raw materials, inedible, except fuels” with 151.9% at 3.40 billion pesos compared to 1.35 billion pesos last year . Its volume increased by 177% to 414,761 tonnes.
The other product groups whose trade value increased were manufactured products classified mainly by material (30.8% to P32.39 billion); products and transactions “not elsewhere classified by the Philippine Standard Commodity Classification†(22.9% at 9 billion pesos); beverages and tobacco (17.9% to P5.75 billion); and miscellaneous manufactured items (7.1% to P4.63 billion).
The Eastern Visayas were the main source of raw materials in the second quarter, with outflows of 28.87 billion pesos. It had a domestic trade surplus of 15.65 billion pesos, the largest among the six regions whose exports outnumbered imports.
Meanwhile, northern Mindanao was the main commodity destination with total inflows reaching 40.35 billion pesos. He posted the largest trade ofFicited among 10 regions with P12.59 billion.
Five regions saw their respective trade balances change in the second quarter compared to the same period last year. Of these, three have gone from surplus to deficit: the Mimaropa region (Eastern and Western Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan), the Western Visayas and the Eastern Visayas. Meanwhile, two of the regions – northern Mindanao and Soccsksargen (southern Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City) – have registered exchanges ofFicited.
In an email, UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion attributed the second quarter results to “the momentum coming from the [April lockdown]. “
“There was a pickup in manufacturing and construction in 2Q21. It was also evident with the resumption of imports during the said quarter, â€he added.
As a reminder, Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal were placed in enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from March 29 to April 11 as the government tried to slow the surge in COVID-19 cases. This was then relaxed to a more lenient modified QC from April 12 to April 30.
The economy has been under varying degrees of quarantine since March 2020.
“We see the economy rebounding to 4.9% [GDP] in 2021 and this is an underperformance due to persistent lockdowns and difficult challenges in controlling the spread of the virus, â€Asuncion said when asked what the latest trade figures interior meant for this year’s recovery prospects.
Mr Asuncion sees domestic trade “sliding on the positive side of year-over-year growth” but that persistent threats such as the emergence of the more infectious Delta COVID-19 variant “would still be a drag” for the future of domestic trade.
On Tuesday, the Department of Health reported 18,056 new COVID-19 infections and 222 additional deaths. Active cases now stand at 177,670.
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