Singapore’s October non-oil domestic exports (NODX) fell by 3.1 percent year-on-year, missing forecasts by a significant margin, official data from Enterprise Singapore showed.
Reuters’ economists had predicted a 5.7 percent increase the past month. September’s figure came in at a slightly revised 5.8 percent increase.
October’s contraction marks the first decline after four straight months of growth.
On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, exports fell by 5.3 percent in October, following the previous month’s 11.4 percent contraction.
Total trade fell by 9 percent in October on a year-on-year basis, following the 1.9 percent decrease in the preceding month. This is mainly due to a continuing decrease in oil trade amid lower oil prices compared to a year ago.
Total exports fell by 8.6 percent, after September’s 2.1 percent decline. Total imports also contracted by 9.3 percent, after the 1.6 percent decrease in September.
On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, total trade fell by 3.1 percent, after the 0.1 percent growth in the previous month.
Total exports fell by 1.6 percent while total imports decreased by 5.2 percent.
Electronics and non-electronics nodx’s decline in October
Shipment of electronics fell by 0.4 percent in October, after the 21.4 percent expansion in September. Integrated circuits, other computer peripherals, and parts of personal computers contributed most to the decline, falling 12.8 percent, 6.9 percent, and 1 percent respectively.
Non-electronic shipments fell 3.9 percent in October, after the 1.7 percent growth in September. The decline in exports of non-monetary gold, decreasing 61 percent, was a major contributor, as were petrochemicals (-15.3 percent) and miscellaneous manufactured articles (-37.3 percent).
Exports to the top 10 markets as a whole declined, although exports to the US, China, Japan, and the European Union grew.
Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Thailand were the largest contributors to the decline in exports, according to official data.
Source: Channel News Asia