MANILA — The country’s January to February forest product exports rose almost 94 percent this year, with shipments of plywood fueling much of the growth.
Export receipts for forest products hit USD28 million in the first two months of 2018, almost twice last year’s USD14.5 million, latest Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed.
The growth was mainly from plywood shipments, which surged nearly 356 percent to USD15.4 million this year from 2017’s USD3.4 million.
Receipts for lumber also grew 10.4 percent to USD10.5 million this year, surpassing the USD9.5 million last year.
Outbound shipments of other forest products likewise rose almost 34 percent to USD2.1 million in 2018 from USD1.6 million in 2017.
Forest product exports helped raise to USD10 billion total receipts from all January to February outbound shipments of the country this year.
Last year’s receipts for all Philippine exports during the same months totaled to USD9.9 billion, the PSA reported. (PNA)
