2012 a 'flat' year for electronics exports

December 25, 2012 5:55pm

The electronics sector is likely to end 2012 on flat growth, Semiconductors and Electronics Industry of the Philippines Inc. president Ernie Santiago said Tuesday.

The slowdown in global demand led to a dip in electronics exports, but the subsector posted a small gain in September after five consecutive months of declines. The growth slowed again to a sluggish 0.3 percent for October.

However, Santiago said, “new investments” will trigger a 5- to 6-percent growth for the industry in 2013.

"The reason why we remain bullish that it [industry] will grow is we expect the impact of these new investments in 2013," Santiago said in a phone interview.

"These new investments in the electronics industry came from Japan, China and Thailand. A lot of them came this year," he said, though he did not specify which companies made the investments.

Earlier, Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. president Sergio Ortiz-Luis said the export sector might not reach its growth target of 10 percent for 2012, with electronics not sustaining growth this year.

However, he added, electronics shipments could recover in the early part of 2013 and, coupled with the robust services exports, fuel an 11-percent growth of total exports next year.

Exports for the first 10 months already hit $44.475 billion, a 7.1-percent growth over the same period last year. Electronics comprise about half of the Philippines' total exports. Semiconductors are among the top electronics products shipped by the country. — BM, GMA News