Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports (NODX) slid back to negative territory, dropping by 4.8% year-on-year in September 2016, compared to the flat growth in the previous month, as both electronic and non-electronic exports fell, just-released International Enterprise (IE) Singapore trade figures revealed.
On a three-month moving average year-on-year, NODX posted a bigger decline of 5.3% in September 2016, following the 4.5% contraction in the previous month.
But on a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, NODX increased by 2.4% in the assessed period, in contrast to the previous month’s 1.9% setback, due to an expansion in both electronic and non-electronic NODX. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the level of NODX reached SGD12.8 billion in September 2016, higher than the SGD12.5 billion registered in the previous month.
Outbound shipments of electronic products contracted by 6.6% in September 2016 year-on-year, following the 6.0% decline in the previous month. The decrease was largely due to ICs (-6.3%), disk drives (-55.0%), and parts of PCs (-22.4%).
Non-electronic NODX contracted by 4.0% in September 2016, compared to the 2.7% increase in the previous month. The decrease was led by structures of ships & boats (-99.9%), civil engineering equipment parts (-47.6%), and petrochemicals (-6.5%).
NODX to all of the top 10 markets, except Hong Kong, the EU 28, and South Korea, contracted in the month under review. The largest contributors to the decline were Malaysia, Indonesia, and the U.S.
Exports to emerging markets decreased by 0.7% in September 2016 year-on-year, following the 4.1% decline in the previous month. The contraction in NODX to the emerging markets was due mainly to the CLMV (-26.4%), the Caribbean (-23.3%), and South Asia (-5.0%).
Meanwhile, the growth of non-oil re-exports (NORX) slowed to 1.2% in September 2016 year-on-year, following the 8.5% increase in the previous month, as expansion in non-electronic NORX outweighed the decrease in electronic NORX, IE Singapore said.
Electronic NORX contracted by 4.4% year-on-year in September, compared to the 6.3% growth in the previous month. The decline was traced to parts of PCs (-22.2%), ICs (-2.0%), and telecommunications equipment (-8.9%).
Compared to the same month in 2015, non-electronic NORX rose 7.7% in September 2016, following the 10.8% increase in the previous month. The expansion was due to structures of ships & boats (+1,832.2%), non-electric engines & motors (+49.0%), and precious stones & pearls (+80.6%).
Shipments to all of the top 10 NORX markets, except China, the U.S, South Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia, grew during the period. The top three contributors to the NORX rise were Hong Kong (+20.2%), the EU 28 (+25.2%), and Taiwan (+25.4%).
