Chart of the Day: No light at the end of the tunnel for Singapore’s NODX

External demand is showing no sign of a rebound.

Positive growth has eluded the city-state in terms of non-oil domestic exports, as it crashed to a lower-than-expected 15.6% slump in March, its worst showing since Mar 13.

According to a report by OCBC, electronics exports were to blame as total exports for the subsector fell by 9.1%, dragged down by ICs, PCs, and PC parts.

Meanwhile, non-electronics exports dived by 18%, due to structures of ships & boats (-99.6%), pharmaceuticals (-30.9% yoy), and petrochemicals (-16.4% yoy).

OCBC adds that things aren’t going to be better in the near term due to sluggish external demand conditions.

“Only 2 of the top 10 NODX markets, namely Japan and HK saw positive growth whereas the other 7 registered double-digit yoy contractions, with EU28, China and Indonesia the key laggards,” OCBC said.

“Retail sales also fell 3.2% yoy in Feb (weakest since Jan15) but rose 1.7% mom sa from Jan. Excluding autos, retail sales slumped 9.6% yoy (worst since Feb14),” OCBC added.