Singapore’s January exports rise 12.8%, fastest growth in 7 months

SINGAPORE — Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports (NODX) increased by 12.8 per cent in January from a year ago, driven by shipments of specialised machinery, non-monetary gold, petrochemicals and electronics, according to official data released on Wednesday (Feb 17).

It marked the quickest pace of growth since June and it was more than double economists’ expectations for a 5.4 per cent rise, according to a Reuters poll. NODX climbed 6.8 per cent in December.

On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted (SA) basis, NODX rose by 7 per cent last month to reach S$15.4 billion, following December’s 4.8 per cent increase. Economists had forecast a 2 per cent rise. Both electronic and non-electronic domestic exports grew.

Non-oil retained imports of intermediate goods (NORI) grew slightly, from S$5.4 billion in December to S$5.5 billion in January.

TOTAL TRADE

On a year-on-year basis, total trade declined by 1.9 per cent last month, following the 0.3 per cent decrease in December.

Total exports grew by 1.1 per cent in January, after the previous month’s 2.6 per cent increase. Total imports declined by 5.2 per cent in January, following the 3.4 per cent decrease in December.

On a seasonally-adjusted basis, compared to the previous month, total trade grew by 5.7 per cent in January, following the 1.6 per cent rise in December.

The level of total trade, on a seasonally-adjusted basis, reached S$86.6 billion in January, higher than the previous month’s S$81.9 billion.

Total exports rose by 5.2 per cent in January, after the 2.2 per cent growth in December. Total imports grew by 6.3 per cent in January, following the 1.0 per cent rise in December.

NON-OIL TRADE

NODX rose over the year, Enterprise Singapore said, mainly due to non-electronics.

On a year-on-year basis, non-electronic NODX rose by 12.5 per cent in January, following the 5 per cent increase in the previous month.

Specialised machinery (+53.2 per cent), non-monetary gold (+70.9 per cent) and petrochemicals (+10.1 per cent) contributed the most to the growth in non-electronic NODX.

Electronic NODX also grew.

On a year-on-year basis, electronic NODX grew by 13.5 per cent in January, following the 13.7 per cent expansion in the previous month.

Integrated circuits, telecommunications equipment, and diodes and transistors expanded by 13.9 per cent, 65.1 per cent and 27.4 per cent respectively, contributing the most to the increase in electronic NODX.

NODX TO TOP MARKETS AND EMERGING MARKETS AS A WHOLE GREW

NODX to the top markets as a whole grew, though exports to the EU 27, the US and Japan declined.

The largest contributors to January’s NODX increase were South Korea (+49.7 per cent), Thailand (+51.5 per cent) and Hong Kong (+42.7 per cent).

NODX to emerging markets expanded by 43.4 per cent in January, following the 28.3 per cent increase in the previous month.

The expansion in NODX to the emerging markets was mainly due to CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) (+235.3 per cent), South Asia (+12.7 per cent) and Latin America (+23.6 per cent).

OIL TRADE

On a year-on-year basis, oil domestic exports contracted by 37.8 per cent in January amid lower oil prices, following the 19.3 per cent decline in the preceding month.

Lower exports to Malaysia (-52.7 per cent), Indonesia (-46.2 per cent) and Panama (-52.4 per cent) contributed to the year-on-year contraction of oil domestic exports.

On a month-on-month SA basis, oil domestic exports grew by 6.2 per cent in January, following an 8.5 per cent increase in December.

NON-OIL RE-EXPORTS GREW

On a year-on-year basis, non-oil re-exports (NORX) grew by 8.8 per cent in January, following a 5.4 per cent increase in December. The growth in electronic re-exports outweighed the decline in non-electronics, resulting in NORX growth as a whole.  

On a year-on-year basis, electronic NORX expanded by 27.7 per cent in January, following the 23.8 per cent growth in December.

The rise in electronic NORX was due to ICs (+24.6 per cent), telecommunications equipment (+37.7 per cent) and parts of PCs (+81.6 per cent).

On a year-on-year basis, non-electronic NORX declined by 7.8 per cent in January, following the 10.1 per cent contraction in December.

The decrease in non-electronic NORX was due to non-electric engines and motors (-48.8 per cent), piston engines (-38.7 per cent) and medical apparatus (-22.8 per cent).

NORX to the majority of the top 10 markets grew in January, except South Korea, Japan, Indonesia and the US.

The top three contributors to the increase in NORX were Hong Kong (+27.5 per cent), the EU 27 (+37.1 per cent) and Vietnam (+46.6 per cent).

On a month-on-month SA basis, NORX rose by 4.9 per cent in January, after the 1.1 per cent decrease in the previous month.

Both electronic and non-electronic NORX grew. On a SA basis, the level of NORX reached S$25.3 billion in January, higher than the S$24.1 billion in December. CNA

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