SINGAPORE: Domestic wholesale trade took a hit in the fourth quarter of 2023, with sales declining by 3.5%, Singapore Business Review reports.
Despite this downturn, there’s a silver lining as it’s still 4.4% higher compared to the third quarter of 2023, as per the Department of Statistics Singapore figures.
The main culprit behind the overall decline was the plummeting sales of petroleum products, which nosedived by 25.7% during the quarter. However, if you remove petroleum from the equation, domestic wholesale sales experienced a healthy increase of 16.2%.
Some sectors bucked the trend and saw significant growth. For instance, metals, timber, and construction saw their sales shoot up by 88.9% in the fourth quarter.
General wholesale trade also fared well, marking a 15.6% increase. The electronic components sector wasn’t far behind either, experiencing a 35.8% jump compared to the same quarter in the previous year.
Certain industries also saw double-digit increases in sales. Ship chandlers, bunkering, and chemicals and chemical products reported rises of 22.2% and 29.9%, respectively.
On the flip side, domestic wholesale trade in transport equipment took a considerable hit, plummeting by 31% over the same period. The household equipment and furniture sector and industrial and construction machinery also experienced contractions during this period, falling by 7.6% and 4.2%, respectively.
In terms of consumer goods, beverages, food, and tobacco sales experienced a 5.3% rise, while telecommunications and computers saw an increase of 0.9%.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s foreign wholesale sales also experienced a decline, dropping by 4.7% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2023. Excluding petroleum, foreign wholesale sales fell by 3.4%.
Compared to the previous quarter, foreign wholesale sales decreased by 0.8% in Q4. However, if you remove petroleum from the equation, foreign wholesale sales rose by 0.4% from the third quarter of 2023. /TISG