Domestic wholesale trade up by 3.4% in 1Q12

But after adjusting for price changes, domestic wholesale trade actually decreased by 3.9% over first quarter 2011.

In a news release, the Department of Statistics reported that domestic wholesale trade 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.

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.

Foreign Wholesale Trade

Compared to the previous quarter, foreign wholesale trade rose 6.2% in first quarter 2012. Excluding petroleum, foreign wholesale trade grew by 1.9%. After removing the price effect, foreign wholesale trade registered an increase of 3.8%.

On a year-on-year basis, foreign wholesale trade grew by 12.7%. Excluding petroleum, foreign wholesale trade rose 5.5%. After adjusting for price changes, foreign wholesale trade increased 8.6%. 

Domestic Wholesale Trade by Sector

Quarter-on-Quarter change: After seasonal adjustment, domestic sales of the petroleum & petroleum products sector registered an increase of 12.3% in first quarter 2012, due partially to price increase. Excluding price effect, 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.

The household equipment & furniture, food, beverages & tobacco, timber, paints & construction materials and electronic components sectors recorded growth of between 3.5% and 8.7%.

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.

Year-on-Year change: The food, beverages & tobacco sector reported the largest year-on-year increase 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.

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.

Foreign Wholesale Trade by Sector

Quarter-on-Quarter change: After seasonal adjustment, foreign wholesale trade of the transport equipment sector recorded a strong positive growth of 29.1%, due to higher offshore trade in first quarter 2012 compared to the previous quarter. Other sectors which also reported higher foreign wholesale sales included food, beverages & tobacco, 8.8%, telecommunications & computers, 7.4%, household equipment & furniture, 7.3%, petroleum & petroleum products, 5.0%, ship chandlers & bunkering, 3.3%, and industrial & construction machinery, 1.6%.

On the other hand, the general wholesale trade and chemicals & chemical products sectors posted decreases of 6.4% and 5.6% respectively over fourth quarter 2011.

Year-on-Year change: Compared to the same period a year ago, the telecommunications & computers sector registered a 21.5% increase in foreign wholesale trade. The transport equipment, food, beverages & tobacco and industrial & construction machinery sectors also reported higher foreign sales of between 10.6% and 14.1%.

Positive growth was also experienced in the petroleum & petroleum products, 21.1%, and ship chandlers & bunkering, 13.5%, sectors, due largely to higher prices compared to a year ago. After removing the price effect, foreign wholesale trade volume of the petroleum & petroleum products sector increased by a smaller 6.1% while that of the ship chandlers & bunkering sector declined marginally by 0.5%.

The general wholesale trade and chemicals & chemical products sectors reported smaller growth of 5% and 1.3% respectively while the household equipment & furniture sector experienced a marginal decline of 1.8% over first quarter 2011.