January to October 2008 farm export revenues for the Philippines hit US$4.96bn, according to newly released data, representing an impressive 87 per cent improvement since the same period last year.
The export rise was championed by fresh bananas, which overtook historic leader coconut oil and brought in US$499.6m. Exported banana volumes came to 2.7m tonnes for the 10-month period, reported Philippines’ Business Mirror.
Agriculture Undersecretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said in a memo farm export volumes had risen 50 per cent to 7.1m tonnes from January to October 2008 over the previous year.
Pineapples also ranked in the top agricultural exports for the period, both fresh and processed.
The Philippines’ top five export markets for farm products were the United States, with US$1.23bn worth of imports, Japan (US$660.5m ), the Netherlands (US$511.47m), South Korea (US$257.67m) and Thailand (US$200.81m).
The increase has smashed through the Agriculture Department’s goal for 10 per cent growth of farm exports in 2008, and there are expectations the total export value for the year will go over US$5bn.
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