Singapore non-oil exports fall 14.6% in November, worse than expected

The slump in Singapore’s key exports deepened in November on weaker electronics and non-electronics demand. - ST FILE

SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): The slump in Singapore’s key exports deepened in November on weaker electronics and non-electronics demand, according to data released by Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) on Friday (Dec 16).

Non-oil domestic exports (Nodx) shrank 14.6 per cent year on year last month, from a high base a year ago, EnterpriseSG noted. This was the second straight monthly contraction after nearly two years of growth.

The November contraction was steeper than Bloomberg’s forecast for a 7.4 per cent drop, and more than double October’s downwardly-revised rate of -6.1 per cent.

Electronics shrank by 20.2 per cent in November, following the 9.3 per cent fall the previous month. The decline in November was led by a drop in integrated circuits, disk media products and parts of PCs.

On a year-on-year basis, non-electronics fell by 12.8 per cent in November, following the 5.1 per cent decrease in the previous month. The contraction was led by the declines in non-monetary gold, pharmaceuticals and primary chemicals.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the level of Nodx reached $14.3 billion in November, lower than the previous month’s $15.8 billion and the levels a year ago. In November 2021, Nodx level hit $16.8 billion.

On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, Nodx declined by 9.2 per cent in November, following the previous month’s 4.2 per cent decrease.

The November figure also missed Bloomberg’s forecast of a 3 per cent month-on-month drop, as well as October’s contraction of 3.7 per cent.

Breaking down the numbers by export markets, Nodx to Singapore’s top 10 markets declined as a whole in November.

The Hong Kong market was the worst hit, with shipments sliding 41 per cent in November, after shrinking 9.1 per cent in October.

It was followed by China, with a contraction of 31.2 per cent in November, after a 34.4 per cent fall in October.

Exports to the US rose 0.5 per cent, while exports to the European Union grew the most at 7.3 per cent in November, and exports went up 6.6 per cent in Japan.