Domestic wholesale trade dipped 2.2% in Q1

The domestic sales of the electronic components industry sharply fell by 34.1%.

Singapore’s domestic wholesale trade dipped 2.2% YoY in the first quarter of 2019, the Department of Statistics Singapore (SingStat) revealed. Excluding petroleum, domestic wholesale trade fell 3.0%.

Meanwhile, quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) seasonally adjusted domestic wholesale trade dropped 8.1% in Q1 2019 compared to Q4 2018. Excluding petroleum, domestic wholesale trade slipped 2.8%.

After adjusting for price changes, overall domestic wholesale trade dropped 6.6% YoY and 6.1% QoQ.

Domestic sales of the Electronic Components industry decreased by 34.1% in Q1 2019. Other industries which experienced declines included Household Equipment & Furniture (-5.2%) and Petroleum & Petroleum Products (-1.4%). In comparison, the Industrial & Construction Machinery industry recorded higher domestic sales of 15.3% YoY.

Singapore’s foreign wholesale trade registered an increase of 1.6% YoY due to higher sales of petroleum and petroleum products. Excluding petroleum, foreign wholesale trade fell 4.5%.

After removing the price effect, there was a decrease of 2.6% YoY and 1.6% QoQ in overall foreign wholesale trade.

The foreign sales of the Petroleum & Petroleum Products industry grew by 8.5% due to higher prices of petroleum products. After removing the price effect, the industry expanded by 1.6%.

In contrast, all other industries experienced a decrease in foreign sales, with the Chemicals & Chemical Products industry registering a decrease of 11.0%, partly due to lower demand for chemical products.