Taking the increase of exports as an indication of greater agricultural and commercial activity, we find that, with the opening of the ports, exports increased; and these now consisted of the products of the country, instead of manufactured goods brought from elsewhere in the Orient. [149] By 1839, the Philippines exported 2,674,220 pesos of her own products, as against 500,000 pesos in 1810. [150] Sugar in 1782, was the only product which was attracting any attention, because at the time, thirty-thousand piculs of it had been exported; in 1840, 146,661 piculs were exported; in 1854 the amount had increased to 566,371, almost four times greater than in 1840; and in 1857 the amount reached 714,059 piculs. [151] Similarly, the amount of hemp exported increased, in spite of the fact that it found its way in the world's market for the first time only in the early part of the nineteenth century. [152] The same effect that was observed in connection with the opening of Manila followed that of the other ports. The production of the regions around the new ports increased as shown by export statistics, and commercial activity was stimulated, as shown in the greater movement of ships. For example, Sual in 1857 sent abroad twelve ships with rice, and two hundred and twenty-five ships to Manila, also loaded with rice; in 1860, sixty ships went abroad, and one hundred and seventy-two to Manila, loaded mostly with the same cargo. Again, although in the first three or four years there were no marked increase in her exports, Iloilo by 1859 began to show signs of increasing productivity. [153] Its total value of exports, which in 1858 amounted to 82,000 pesos, had increased to 1,000,000 pesos in 1863.