Singapore exports jump 9.4% in Q2

Aug 13, 2018

Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports (NODX) jumped 9.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2018, driven by non-electronic exports, according to statistics released by trade agency Enterprise Singapore on Monday (Aug 13).

This comes after a 1.1 per cent increase in the previous quarter.

Non-electronic exports expanded by 16.6 per cent, extending a 4.6 per cent growth in the first quarter. The largest contributors to the increase in non-electronic exports were food preparations, civil engineering equipment parts and pharmaceuticals.

Electronic shipments, meanwhile, fell by 7.6 per cent following a 7.9 decrease in the first quarter, Enterprise Singapore said.

ICs, parts of PCs, and diodes and transistors declined by 11.3 per cent, 36.3 per cent and 15.2 per cent respectively, and they contributed the most to the decrease in electronic shipments.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, NODX grew by 7 per cent after the 2.6 per cent decline in the first quarter of the year.

Exports to Singapore’s top markets as a whole rose in the second quarter, though shipments to South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand and China declined. The biggest contributors to the NODX increase were the European Union with a 48.2 per cent increase, the US with a 41.1 per cent increase and Indonesia with a 14.2 per cent.

Singapore’s total merchandise trade expanded by 10.2 per cent, up from the 2.5 per cent increase in the previous quarter. This was also helped by a 5.7 per cent increase in non-oil re-exports, driven by higher shipments of non-electronic re-exports.

When asked about the upgrades in both the 2018 projections for total trade and NODX, an official from Enterprise Singapore attributed them to the better than expected performance of NODX in the first half of the year and the “significant” improvements in oil prices.

The forecasts also took into consideration downside risks, such as brewing trade tensions that could impact trade flow and the global economic outlook.

The Government’s full-year projection for total trade was adjusted upwards to a range of 5 per cent to 6 per cent, while 2018 growth forecast for NODX was raised to 2.5 to 3.5 per cent.

Source: Channel NewsAsia