China is Philippines' largest source of imports in February: report

MANILA - China was the Philippines' largest source of imports in February, comprising 19.9 percent share of the total import for the month, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Wednesday.

In a report, the PSA said import bills from the top 10 countries for imports for February amounted to $6.08 billion or 78.7 percent share of the total.

"China was the country's biggest source of imports with 19.9 percent share in February 2018. Import payments to this country stood at $1.54 billion, posting an increment of 57.7 percent from $977.17 million in February 2017," the PSA said.

The agency said, however, China only ranked fourth with export shipments valued at $521.04 million, comprising 11.2 percent. "Outbound shipments to this country grew by 6.4 percent from 489.92 million recorded in the same month of the previous year," the PSA said.

The PSA said Japan placed the second, accounted for 10.4 percent and an import value of $804.61 million in February. It reportedly dropped by 6.5 percent from February 2017 value amounting to $860.65 million. South Korea ranked the third.

The PSA said the US ranked the first with exports valued at $705.20 million, contributing 15.1 percent share of the total exports for February. "It went down by 5.4 percent from $745.22 million recorded in February 2017," the PSA said.

The agency said Japan placed the second with $680.76 million or a share of 14.6 percent of the total exports.