Container throughput at PSA Singapore Terminals and Jurong Port grew 5 per cent in October from a year ago, down the 8.5 per cent seen in September, according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) yesterday.

This slipping single-digit growth marks the end of the steady double-digit expansion seen last year and reflects the ailing state of global demand, economists said. Trade-dependent Singapore will suffer not only the direct effect of handling fewer containers but also the wider effects of weakening exports, they added.

Read Fiona Chan's full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.