Philippine June exports up 4.1%

Philippine export revenues in June rose by 4.1 percent on year to 4.49 billion U.S. dollars on back of increased earnings from furniture, mineral and metal exports, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said Tuesday. Export earnings from woodcrafts and furniture, which account for about 6 percent of total earnings, amount to 281.12 million U. S. dollars, or 77.6 percent higher than the same period last year. This was the highest growth registered among the top ten products, thanks to a significant rise - 105.6 percent in shipment volume. Earnings from mineral products increased by 58.4 percent while that of metals rose by 14.6 percent. Export receipts from electronics, the country\'s top export product, went down by 2.2 percent on year as global demand for electronics remain soft. Most of the Philippine exports went to Japan, the United States, China and Singapore. Total merchandise exports for the first six months of 2013 declined 4.4 percent on year to 25.59 billion U.S. dollars.