SINGAPORE - Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) contracted 4.8 per cent in September from a year earlier after stalling in August, figures released on Monday (Oct 17) by International Enterprise (IE) Singapore showed.
But the fall was smaller than the median forecast of a 6 per cent slide in a Reuters poll of economists. This came as exports to China, Singapore's biggest single market, fell 2.2 per cent in September - less than the 5.4 per cent drop in the previous month.
Shipments to all of Singapore's top 10 markets, except Hong Kong, the EU 28 and South Korea, contracted year on year in September. The worst hit markets were Malaysia (-12.3 per cent), Indonesia (-16.1 per cent) and the US (-7.2 per cent).
Both electronic and non-electronic exports contracted last month. Electronic NODX fell 6.6 per cent year on year, following the 6.0 per cent decline in the previous month, largely due to ICs (-6.3 per cent), disk drives (-55.0 per cent) and parts of PCs (-22.4 per cent).
Non-electronic shipments contracted by 4.0 per cent, compared to the 2.7 per cent increase in August, led by structures of ships and boats (-99.9 per cent), civil engineering equipment parts (-47.6 per cent) and petrochemicals (-6.5 per cent).
On a month on month, seasonally adjusted basis, NODX in September increased by 2.4 per cent, in contrast to the previous month's 1.9 per cent decrease. Economists had expected a 1.5 per cent rise.
The trade data comes after Singapore's central bank on Friday held policy steady despite the economy suffering a sharper slowdown than expected in the third quarter. Analysts say the weak inflation and growth outlook will likely force policymakers to ease the Singapore dollar further next year.
