Singapore’s September non-oil domestic exports up 8.3%

Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports (Nodx) picked up its pace from the previous month by expanding 8.3% in September, compared to the 5% increase in August. But the expansion was still below economists’ forecast for an 11.1% increase.

Nodx last month saw support from non-electronic exports which grew by 11.9%, following the 7.8% rise in the previous month, with pharmaceuticals, non-monetary gold, and food preparation products contributing the most to the expansion.

Meanwhile, shipment for electronic products declined by 0.9% for last month, extending from the 1.5% decline in the previous month, with personal computers, diodes and transistors, and integrated circuit parts the main contributors to the fall in shipments.

Four out of ten of Nodx’s top markets – the United States (US), European Union, Thailand and Indonesia - saw an increase in shipments from the previous year in September, while the other markets Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, and China, registered a fall in shipments.

Shipments to the US expanded by 41.5%, following the previous month’s increase of 29.3%, led by increased shipments in food preparation products, pharmaceuticals, and non-electric engines and motors.

Nodx to the European Union grew by 21.6%, from the 14.1% expansion in August, helped by increased shipments of pharmaceuticals, measuring instruments and plastic articles.

Total trade saw an increase of 13.5% in September, slightly increasing from the 13.3% growth in August. Non-oil re-exports which is seen as a gauge for wholesale trade performance, rose by 13.3% for last month, following the 14.1% increase a month earlier, with the growth in the re-export of non-electronic items exceeding the fall in electronic re-exports.