Total merchandise trade fell by 6.3 percent in the Q3 from the same period last year, following the slightly-revised 15.3 percent decline in the previous quarter, said Enterprise Singapore.
The decline in oil trade outweighed the growth in non-oil trade.
Amid lower oil prices compared to a year ago, oil trade fell 39.5 percent in the quarter ended Sep 30, easing from the 61.9 percent contraction in the previous quarter.
Non-oil trade grew by 0.8 percent in the Q3, after the previous quarter’s 3.5 percent decrease.
On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, total merchandise trade rose by 7.5 percent in the Q3, after the previous quarter’s 14.4 percent contraction.
The oil and non-oil trade grew by 38.6 percent and 4.5 percent respectively.
Non-oil exports in the Q3
Non-oil exports, which include non-oil domestic exports (NODX) and non-oil re-exports (NORX) rose by 2.8 percent year-on-year in the Q3, after the second quarter’s 1.9 percent decrease.
On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted basis, it increased by 5.9 percent in Q3, following the 7.0 percent decline in the previous quarter.
NODX grew by 6.5 percent in the third quarter from the same period last year, higher than the previous quarter’s 5.9 percent raise
The growth was driven by expansion in non-electronic exports, notably non-monetary gold and specialized machinery.
On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, NODX grew by 1.4 percent in the third quarter, following the 3.0 percent decline in the second quarter.
Growth was achieved as the increase in non-electronic NODX outweighed the decline in electronics.
Exports of non-electronic products, comprising 77 percent of total NODX, grew by 5.7 percent over the year in Q3. This followed a 4.6 percent rise in the second quarter.
Among non-electronic goods, non-monetary gold grew at the highest rate at 87.8 percent, followed by specialized machinery (40.1 percent) and food preparations (14.4 percent).
Electronic exports expanded 9.5 percent in the third quarter, lower than the 10.6 percent growth recorded in the previous quarter.