Government trims 2012 trade outlook after rough 2Q

IE Singapore now expects total trade to grow at a milder 3%.

The government agency cut down the projections for both total trade and NODX growth in 2012 after reporting that trade grew at a more sluggish pace in 2Q12 than the previous quarter.

"Despite the bearish global economic conditions, the second quarter of 2012 still saw positive y-o-y growth for both NODX and total trade, albeit at a slower rate compared to the first quarter of 2012. Singapore’s trade in 2Q 2012 was mainly boosted by intra-Asian trade and in particular, trade with Malaysia, China and Vietnam," said IE Singapore.

"Moving ahead, the projections for both total trade and NODX growth in 2012 are narrowed from 3.0 and 5.0 per cent to 4.0 and 5.0 per cent," it added, retaining the NODX outlook despite its weaker performance in 2Q12.

NODX grew by 3.9 per cent in 2Q 2012, on a y-o-y basis, following the previous quarter’s increase of 6.1 per cent, on higher shipments of both electronic and nonelectronic NODX. Electronic domestic exports increased by 2.2 per cent in 2Q 2012, after the previous quarter’s 3.5 per cent expansion. Non-electronic NODX rose by 4.8 per cent in
2Q 2012, following the 7.4 per cent growth in the previous quarter.

IE Singapore even noted that on a q-o-q SA basis, non-oil domestic exports (NODX) decreased by 3.3 per cent
in 2Q 2012, reversing the previous quarter’s expansion of 8.6 per cent.