Singapore non-oil exports rise for second straight month in January with 12.8% growth

SINGAPORE'S key exports continued their upward trajectory in January, on the back of growth in non-electronics and electronics shipments.

Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) added 12.8 per cent year on year, in the second month of increase, according to figures from trade agency Enterprise Singapore (ESG) on Wednesday.

The expansion beats the median increase of 5.2 per cent forecast by private-sector analysts in a Bloomberg poll.

Headline growth was attributed by ESG to shipments of non-electronics such as specialised machinery, non-monetary gold, and petrochemicals.

Non-electronic NODX rose by 12.5 per cent in January, following a 5 per cent increase in the month before in line with "robust semiconductor demand" and with gold prices remaining high, ESG said.

Separately, shipments of electronic products grew by 13.5 per cent from a low base a year ago, after a 13.7 per cent expansion in December.

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Most of the growth came from a pick-up in telecommunications equipment, while integrated circuits and diodes and transistors also contributed.

On a seasonally adjusted, monthly basis, NODX rose by 7 per cent to S$15.4 billion in January, after earlier picking up 4.8 per cent in December.

Overall NODX to Singapore's top 10 markets grew in January, despite contractions in exports to the European Union, the US and Japan.

Singapore's shipments to key trade partners were driven by products such as specialised machinery, measuring instruments and telecommunications equipment to South Korea; non-monetary gold, paper & paperboard and petrochemicals to Thailand; as well as integrated circuits, optical goods and non-monetary gold to Hong Kong. 

NODX to emerging markets also expanded 43.4 per cent, on shipments to the Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam bloc, as well as South Asia and Latin America.

Meanwhile, total trade fell by 1.9 per cent mainly due to oil trade, which continued to decrease amid lower oil prices as compared to a year ago. The decline, which followed a 0.3 per cent dip in December, came as export growth was outweighed by the drop in total imports.

In its quarterly review of trade performance on Monday, ESG said NODX grew 4.3 per cent last year, within the official forecast of 4 per cent to 4.5 per cent, and recovering from 2019's 9.2 per cent decline. 

NODX is expected to grow by zero to 2 per cent year on year in 2021, slowing from 2020, ESG noted.

But the forecast for total merchandise trade has been upgraded to growth of 2 to 4 per cent, up from an earlier forecast of 1 to 3 per cent growth made in November.

"There remains uncertainty in the global economy and recovery could be uneven across economies," said ESG.

But it added that improved oil prices since the last update a quarter ago "may provide some support for our oil trade in nominal terms and in turn total trade in 2021".