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SINGAPORE'S exports rose at the fastest pace in six months in February as pharmaceutical and petrochemical companies shipped more goods to customers abroad.
Non-oil domestic exports climbed 7.3 per cent from a year earlier to $12.9 billion, following a 2.8 per cent increase in January, according to data released by International Enterprise (IE) Singapore on Monday.
That compared with a 2.8 per cent rise in January, and with a median forecast in a Reuters poll for an annual jump of 10 per cent.
The Singapore economy is heavily dependent on trade, and non-oil domestic exports were worth three quarters of the gross domestic product last year.
Economists had expected monthly exports in February to fall as a struggling United States economy hit demand for electronics.
February's electronics shipments fell 1.3 per cent from a year ago while drugs exports rose 7.6 per cent in the same period. Petrochemicals climbed 10.5 per cent.
Sales of electronics products were worth $5.1 billion last month compared with $6.25 billion in January.
Texas Instruments, the second-biggest maker of chips that run mobile phones, last week cut sales and profit forecasts because of slowing handset demand.
Singapore's semiconductor shipments declined 0.2 per cent from a year earlier after sliding a revised 4.7 per cent in January. Disk-drive exports fell 3 per cent in February.
Overseas sales fell a seasonally adjusted 0.4 per cent last month from January, when they climbed 8.4 per cent, today's report said. Economists expected a 2 per cent decline.
Singapore's non-oil domestic exports, which comprise of goods that have been manufactured in Singapore or undergone further processing, include mobile phones, medical instruments, and active ingredients for some blockbuster drugs. -- Reuters.
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