Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports (NODX) increased by an unexpected 11.6% in May 2016 year-on-year, in contrast to the 7.9% decrease in the previous month, as expansion in non-electronic exports, particularly gold, outweighed the decline in electronic shipments, according to data released by International Enterprise (IE) Singapore.
Non-electronic exports rose by 19.0% in May year-on-year, in contrast to the 8.1% contraction in the previous month. The rise was led by prefabricated buildings (growth not supplied), non-monetary gold (up 436.7%), and pharmaceuticals (up 5.6%).
Electronic exports shrank by 6.0% in the same month, following the 7.4% decline in April 2016, largely due to ICs, PCs, and parts of PCs.
Domestic exports to all of the top 10 markets, except the EU 28, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, and Japan, increased. Top contributors to the expansion were the U.S. (up 9.1%), Taiwan (11.2%), and Malaysia (2%).
On a three-month moving average, Singapore’s NODX slid by 5.0% in May year-on-year, following an 8.3% contraction in the previous month.
On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, NODX rose 16.8% in May, following the previous month’s 4.5% growth, due to an increase in both electronics and non-electronic NODX. Non-oil exports reached SGD14.9 billion in May 2016, higher than the SGD12.7 billion registered in the previous month.
On the other hand, non-oil re-exports (NORX) decreased by 2.8% in May compared to the year-ago level, following the 3.0% decline in the previous month, due to the slide in electronic re-exports outstripping the growth in non-electronic re-exports.
Electronic re-exports dropped by 7.9% in May, following the 6.7% decline in the previous month. The decrease was due to ICs, parts of PCs, and PCs.
Non-electronic NORX rose 2.7% in May, following the 1.3% increase in the previous month. The expansion was due to non-monetary gold (214.2%), aircraft parts (18.8%), and copper (354.6%).
Non-oil re-exports to all of the top 10 markets, except the EU 28, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and the U.S., contracted in the month reviewed. The top three contributors to the NORX decline were China (-24.8%), Thailand (-11.4%), and Indonesia (-5.2%).
On a three-month moving average, NORX decreased by 2.9% year-on-year in May , following a 1.6% decline in the preceding month.
Overall total trade declined by 1.5% in May year-on-year compared to last year, following the 9.9% decrease in the previous month. Total exports dialed down by 2.1%, following the 8.1% decline in the previous month.
On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, total trade rose 5.6% in May year-on-year, following the 3.8% increase in the previous month. Overall trade reached SGD72.0 billion, higher than the previous month’s achievement of SGD68.2 billion.
Photo: See Hoy Kim
