SINGAPORE: Exports in Singapore picked up in the second quarter of 2016, but growth for the year is likely to remain in negative territory, according to International Enterprise (IE) Singapore on Thursday.
On a year-on-year basis, non-oil domestic exports (NODX) saw flat growth in the second quarter, an improvement from the previous quarter’s 9 per cent decline, driven by an increase in the export of non-electronic products which outweighed a dip in electronic exports.
On a quarterly basis, exports rose by 9.4 per cent, in contrast to the 4.9 per cent decrease in the first quarter.
“Global growth remains clouded with uncertainties and is projected to remain sluggish in 2016,” the trade promotion agency said.
“While modest improvement in the US economy is anticipated, the expected moderation of China’s economic growth in the second half of 2016 and the uncertainties arising from the Brexit vote are likely to continue to weigh on the external environment.”
Still, there are “potential upsides” in the export of non-electronic products, IE Singapore said, adding that it has narrowed the full-year forecast to between -4 per cent and -3 per cent from between -5 per cent and -3 per cent.
During the second quarter, exports to half of Singapore’s top 10 markets fell, with Indonesia, South Korea and China leading the decline. Exports to China – Singapore’s largest export market – improved but remained weak, contracting 9.1 per cent after a 14.6 per cent decline in the first quarter.
Overall, exports of non-electronic products increased 2.1 per cent, in contrast to the previous quarter’s 11.3 per cent contraction. The growth was largely due to higher shipments of civil engineering equipment parts (+164 per cent), non-monetary gold (+228.7 per cent) and pharmaceuticals (+7.3 per cent), IE Singapore said.
Electronic exports shrank 5.1 per cent after contracting 3.4 per cent in the first quarter. The decrease was mainly due to lower domestic exports of PCs (-25.6 per cent), parts of PCs (-15.1 per cent) and disk drives (-20.9 per cent).
Non-oil re-exports (NORX) contracted 1.9 per cent during the quarter, following a 5 per cent decrease in the first quarter. Electronic re-exports declined by 5.1 per cent, after the previous quarter’s decline of 7.1 per cent, while non-electronic re-exports rose 1.6 per cent, in contrast to the previous quarter’s decline of 2.5 per cent.
