SINGAPORE: Singapore’s key exports shrank much less than expected year on year in March – and, in fact, grew month-on-month – data from Enterprise Singapore show.
Non-oil domestic exports (Nodx) fell 8.3% on a yearly basis last month following a revised 15.8% contraction in February.
The number in March was much better than the median 19.4% drop forecast by economists in a Bloomberg poll.
It was also the smallest fall in recent months – Nodx fell 25% in January and 20.6% in December – although it marked the sixth straight month of contraction.
Compared with the previous month and seasonally adjusted, Nodx grew by 18.4% in March, reversing the decline of 8.2% in February.
Both electronics and non-electronics exports fell – with electronics accounting for more of the decline in March’s Nodx than non-electronics.
Electronics exports fell 22.3% in March, a better performance than the 26.5% contraction in February.
The decline in electronics Nodx was led by disk media products at 41%, parts of personal computers (36%) and integrated circuits (28.6%).
Non-electronics exports fell by a smaller percentage in March, down 4.7%.
This was also a better performance than in February when non-electronics Nodx had fallen 12.4%.
The volatile pharmaceuticals sector rebounded 26.8%.
But petrochemicals fell 23.1% and food preparations fell 24.2%, contributing to the decline in non-electronics Nodx. — The Straits Times/ANN
