The non-oil domestic exports (NODX) of Singapore in March had a growth beyond the calculated estimate expanding for a fifth straight month. This was possible because of the heave in pharmaceutical and petrochemical shipments. According to trade agency, International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore), the rise was 16.5 percent more from the previous year.
The increase, came after shipments reached 21.5 percent in February, by far the strongest growth in five years although with a low base in the previous year, 8.6 percent in January, 9.1 percent in December and 15.6 percent in November.
However, on a month-on-month seasonally adjusted (SA) basis, non-oil domestic exports dropped by 1.1 percent in March, just after its 1.1 percent growth the month before that. This situation spiraled from the downfall in electronic NODX, over-shadowing the increase in non-electronic shipments.
According to the figures provided by IE Singapore, in March, China continued to be Singapore’s single prime market, with sales growing by 45.5 percent year-on-year. But the recent rush in electronics NODX was simplified and was surpassed by the continued strong performance of non-electronic shipments.
The USA, the second biggest, following China, has huge demands for Singapore goods; which the growth was as little as 1.8 percent in March, following a 1.4 percent rise in February. Other top performing markets in March were Taiwan (+32.5 percent) and Hong Kong (+17.4 percent).
Petrochemicals increased by 42.8 percent, specialised machinery increased by 70.1 percent, and structural parts made of iron, steel & aluminum rose by 4,697.5 percent. All these accumulated to form the most to the mount in non-electronic NODX.
Although the economists of private sector economists estimated that Singapore’s trade expansion to persist, and there was a remarkable expansion in exports, and scaling up of the economy, Singapore’s Central Bank in the light of global outlook has signaled caution from the threats of trade protectionism and geopolitical tensions; and made no alteration to the Singapore dollar-based monetary policy.