Singapore exports plunge 16% in October

As exports of electronic products plummeted 31% last month.

On a y-o-y basis, NODX contracted by 16 per cent in October 2011, following the 4.6 per cent decrease in the previous month, according to International Enterprise Singapore’s report. On a 3-month moving average y-o-y basis, NODX declined by 5.9 per cent in October 2011, following the 1.1 per cent contraction in the previous month.

On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, NODX decreased by 5.9 per cent in October 2011, following the previous month’s 9.3 per cent decline, due to the contraction in electronic NODX that outweighed non-electronic NODX. On a SA basis, the level of NODX reached S$13 billion in October 2011, lower than the S$14 billion registered in the previous month.

On a SA basis, non-oil retained imports of intermediate goods decreased by S$1,156 million from S$4,807 million in the previous month to reach S$3,651 million in October 2011.

Total trade
On a y-o-y basis, total trade rose by 5.0 per cent in October 2011, following the 6.9 per cent increase in the previous month. Total exports grew by 2.0 per cent in October 2011, following the 7.1 per cent expansion in the previous month. Total imports increased by 8.6 per cent in October 2011, following the 6.8 per cent rise in the preceding month.

On a m-o-m SA basis, total trade expanded by 0.9 per cent in October 2011, compared to the 3.6 per cent decrease in the previous month. On a SA basis, the level of total trade reached S$81 billion in October 2011, higher than the previous month’s achievement of S$80 billion. Total exports rose marginally by 0.1 per cent in October 2011, after a 1.4 per cent increase in the previous month. Total imports grew by 1.8 per cent in October 2011, compared to the 8.7 per cent decline in the previous month.

Commentaries:
Non-oil Domestic Exports
On a y-o-y basis, NODX declined by 16 per cent in October 2011, following the 4.6 per cent contraction in the previous month, due to a decline in both electronic and non-electronic domestic exports.

Electronic products. On a y-o-y basis, electronic NODX contracted by 31 per cent in October 2011, after the 14 per cent decline in the previous month. The decrease in electronic domestic exports was largely due to ICs (-33 per cent), parts of ICs (-56 per cent) and parts of PCs (-26 per cent).

Non-electronic products. On a y-o-y basis, non-electronic NODX contracted by 6.7 per cent in October 2011, in contrast to the 0.7 per cent increase in the previous month. The declined in non-electronic NODX was led by ships & boats (-55 per cent), specialised machinery (-24 per cent) and electrical machinery (-42 per cent).

Oil Domestic Exports
On a y-o-y basis, oil domestic exports expanded by 43 per cent in October 2011, after the preceding month’s 56 per cent increase. The y-o-y growth of oil domestic exports was mainly due to sales to Indonesia (+120 per cent), China (+184 per cent) and Malaysia (+49 per cent). In volume terms, oil domestic exports increased by 8.6 per cent in October 2011, after the 17 per cent expansion in the previous month. On a m-o-m SA basis, oil domestic exports declined marginally by 0.3 per cent in October 2011, following a contraction of 1.2 per cent in the previous month.