Singapore saw its non-oil domestic exports (NODX) decline by 7.2% year-on-year in December 2015, after the 3.4% decrease in the previous month, due to a contraction in both electronic and non-electronic shipments, according to International Enterprise (IE) Singapore.
Electronic exports declined by 0.3% year-on-year, in contrast to the 0.6% growth in the previous month. The contraction was largely due to ICs (-11.3%), parts of PCs (-13%), and disk drives (-22%).
Non-electronic shipments contracted by 10.3% in December 2015 compared to the same month a year ago, following the 5.1% decline in the previous month. The decrease was led by petrochemicals (-17.5%), primary chemicals (-41.8%), and civil engineering equipment parts (-43.5%).
All of the top 10 markets, except for the U.S., Japan, and Hong Kong, contracted in December year-on-year, with the biggest declines made by China, South Korea, and Taiwan.
On a three-month moving average, NODX decreased year-on-year by 3.5% in December 2015, following a 0.3% decline in the previous month.
On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, NODX declined by 3.1% in December 2015, after the previous month’s 3.8% decrease. On a seasonally adjusted basis, NODX reached SGD12.5 billion (US$8.7 billion) in December 2015, lower than the SGD12.9 billion registered in the previous month.
As for the city-state’s non-oil re-exports (NORX), they expanded by 0.8% in December 2015 year-on-year, following the 1.6% growth in the previous month, due to an increase in non-electronic re-exports which outweighed the decline in electronic performance.
On a three-month moving average, NORX rose year-on-year by 2.8% in December 2015, following a 2.3% expansion in the preceding month.
On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, NORX contracted by 2.1%, after the 3.1% contraction in the previous month, due to a decrease in electronic NORX which outweighed the rise in non-electronic re-exports. Seasonally adjusted, the NORX reached SGD19.6 billion in December 2015, lower than the SGD20 billion registered in the preceding month.
Electronic NORX decreased by 3.5% in December 2015, compared to the 1% growth in the previous month. The contraction was due to ICs (-14.4%), parts of ICs (-26.9%), and capacitors (-20.9%).
Non-electronic NORX grew by 5.8% in December 2015, after the 2.3% increase in the previous month. The rise was contributed by aircraft parts (71.8%), nickel (124.4%), and non-electric engines & motors (12.9%).
NORX to all of the top 10 NORX markets, except China, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Hong Kong, and the U.S., increased, led by Taiwan (53.5%), Thailand (16.2%), and Japan (13.3%).
IE Singapore reported that total trade contracted by 8.4% in December 2015 versus the year-ago level, following the 6.8% decline in the previous month.
Total exports decreased by 6.4%, following the 7.6% contraction in the previous month. Total imports declined by 10.6%, on the heels of a 5.8% decrease in the preceding month.
Photo: Kroisenbrunner
