Domestic wholesale trade recovers in 1Q12 as volumes rise

It posted a 2.3% increase over the 4Q11 after ajdusting for price changes with several sectors posting qoq growth gains.

"The household equipment & furniture; food, beverages & tobacco; timber, paints & construction materials; and electronic components sectors recorded growth of between 3.5% and 8.7%," said the Statistics Singapore in a release.

"Domestic wholesale trade volume of the petroleum & petroleum products sector increased by a smaller 6.6%. The ship chandlers & bunkering sector recorded a growth of 2.0% in nominal value but registered a decline of 3.9% after excluding price increase," it said.

"In contrast, the chemicals & chemical products, telecommunications & computers, industrial & construction machinery and transport equipment sectors registered declines of between 2.2% and 6.6% over fourth quarter 2011," it added.

Overall, "domestic wholesale trade (seasonally adjusted) increased 2.8% in first quarter 2012 compared to the previous quarter. Excluding petroleum, overall domestic sales grew by 1.3%. After removing the price effect, domestic wholesale trade increased 2.3% over fourth quarter 2011," said StatSing.

"Compared to the same period a year ago, domestic wholesale trade in first quarter 2012 grew by 3.4%. Excluding petroleum, overall domestic wholesale trade declined marginally by 0.7%. After adjusting for price changes, domestic wholesale trade registered a decrease of 3.9% over first quarter 2011," it added.

On a year-on-year basis, "the food, beverages & tobacco sector reported the largest year-on-year increase (13.9%) in domestic sales among all wholesale sectors. The ship chandlers & bunkering and petroleum & petroleum products sectors also recorded growth of 11.5% and 8.5% respectively, but their sales declined by 4.4% and 6.2% respectively after removing price effect," said StatSing.

"Other sectors that experienced year-on-year increases in domestic sales included telecommunications & computers (5.6%), timber, paints & construction materials (5.2%), industrial & construction machinery (1.9%) and household equipment & furniture (1.3%). In contrast, the chemicals and chemical products, electronic components and general wholesale trade sectors reported declines of between 6.2% and 12.6% in domestic sales compared to first quarter 2011," it added.