SINGAPORE - Stronger demand from Singapore's major trading partners for specialised machinery and other items helped keep exports on an upward trend last month, although no one is popping the champagne just yet.
Non-oil domestic exports (Nodx) rose 12.8 per cent year on year, beating economists' expectations and building on the 6.8 per cent growth racked up in December.
This was largely due to increased shipments of specialised machinery, non-monetary gold and petrochemicals, as well as a rise in demand for electronics such as telecommunications equipment, Enterprise Singapore noted yesterday.
The robust number was also helped by the low base of comparison from January last year.
Nodx increased 7 per cent in January on a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis after a 4.8 per cent uptick in December, with growth in both electronic and non-electronic exports.
Last month's exports hit $15.4 billion in value compared with $14.4 billion in December, on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Electronic shipments grew 13.5 per cent last month compared with a 13.7 per cent increase in December, largely due to more orders for products like integrated circuits and telecoms gear.
It was much the same with non-electronic exports, which rose 12.5 per cent, far greater than December's 5 per cent expansion, with non-monetary gold and specialised machinery among key drivers.
Maybank Kim Eng economists Chua Hak Bin and Lee Ju Ye noted that last month's Nodx surge was partly due to Chinese New Year falling in February this year, compared with January last year.
The low base stemming from the pandemic in the first quarter of last year will likely keep electronic export numbers healthy in the first three months of this year, but the pace of growth will likely slow from the second quarter as base effects get less favourable, they added.
UOB economist Barnabas Gan said last month's strong performance reinforces the bank's view that the improving global economy and rising oil prices will help lift Singapore's export momentum this year.
"This suggests that shipments in products that had been weak - such as chemicals, petrochemicals and assembled printed circuit boards - may turn positive in the year ahead," he added.
Non-oil shipments to Singapore's top 10 markets grew in January overall, although exports to the European Union, the United States and Japan declined.
South Korea, Thailand and Hong Kong were the largest contributors to the increase in exports.
Notably, exports to emerging markets surged 43.4 per cent after rising 28.3 per cent in December, due to higher shipments to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Last year, Nodx expanded 4.3 per cent over 2019 on the back of higher shipments of electronic and non-electronic products.
It is forecast to grow between 0 per cent and 2 per cent this year, given the risks in the global economy. Total exports grew 1.1 per cent last month, but this was outweighed by the 5.2 per cent fall in total imports.
