SINGAPORE: Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) in February slipped by 0.1% compared to last year. Month-on-month, there was a more noticeable decline of 4.8%.
This follows an expansion in January, where NODX saw a 16.7% year-on-year increase and a 2.2% month-on-month uptick, Singapore Business Review reports. Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) pointed out that the slip was primarily due to decreased non-electronics NODX.
In February, non-electronic NODX saw a 1.5% year-on-year decline. Notably, there were significant drops in food preparations, speciality chemicals, and electrical circuit apparatus, which fell by 23.5%, 19.7%, and 36.9%, respectively.
However, electronic NODX managed to buck the trend, expanding by 5.2% year-on-year. This growth was largely boosted by integrated circuits (ICs), personal computers (PCs), and parts of ICs, which saw increases of 15.9%, 26.2%, and 54.8%, respectively.
Despite the overall decline in NODX, there was a notable uptick in exports to Singapore’s top markets. Hong Kong led the charge with a 143.6% year-on-year increase, followed by the United States with a 17.1% rise and Indonesia with an 8.2% uptick.
However, the export sector wasn’t all doom and gloom. Oil domestic exports and non-oil re-exports (NORX) experienced growth in February, climbing by 9.9% and 0.7% year-on-year, respectively.
The positive news continued on the broader trade front, with total exports recording a 1.7% year-on-year growth and total imports showing an increase of 5.6% year-on-year. This resulted in an overall expansion of 3.5% in total trade for February.
/TISG
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