Singapore’s Key Exports Fell 9.8% In April, Steeper Than Expected

Singapore’s key exports fell for the seventh consecutive month in April, weighed down by declines in both electronic and non-electronic products.

Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) fell 9.8 percent in April from the same month a year earlier, data from Enterprise Singapore showed on Wednesday (May 17), extending the 8.3 percent contraction in March.

The latest figure is worse than a Reuters poll forecast of a 9.4 percent drop.

April’s slump was led by a 23.3 per cent fall in electronic shipments following the 22.3 per cent decline in March.

Integrated circuits, personal computers, and disk media products contributed the most to the decline, falling by 21.1 percent, 50.3 percent, and 41.6 percent respectively.

Non-electronic exports meanwhile dipped 5.8 per cent following the 4.7 per cent decrease in March.

The biggest declines were in primary chemicals, petrochemicals, and food preparations – falling by 57.7 percent, 32.8 percent, and 27 percent respectively.

On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, NODX rose 2.7 percent in April, following March’s 18.4 percent growth. This was higher than analysts’ predictions for a 3 percent decline.

OCBC economist Selena Ling said trade was still showing weak momentum.

“The anticipated recovery for electronics in the second half of 2023 still looks elusive. In fact, the deep year-on-year contraction in integrated circuits, PCs, disk media et cetera, implies that demand conditions may still be searching for a trough. Even the pharmaceutical export surge is insufficient to offset the electronics slump,” said Ms Ling.

NODX to Singapore’s top 10 markets in April declined as a whole though exports to the US, the EU 27, and South Korea rose.

Exports to China fell 20.9 percent on lower shipments of petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and integrated circuits, while exports to Malaysia declined 35 percent after drops in shipments of integrated circuits, primary chemicals, and specialised machinery.

Source: Reuters

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