A general view shows vessels parked near petroleum refineries on Bukom island off Singapore on February 25, 2025. (Photo by Roslan RAHMAN / AFP)
SINGAPORE: Singapore’s key exports rebounded in February following a contraction amid the Chinese New Year (CNY) period in January.
Non-oil domestic exports (Nodx) rose 7.6% year-on-year (y-o-y) in February, reversing a 2.1% drop in the previous month, according to figures released by trade agency Enterprise Singapore on March 17.
The increase was less than the 8.3% expansion forecast by economists in a Reuters poll.
To smoothen out the impact from CNY falling on different months, the agency noted that Nodx grew 2.3% in aggregate over January and February.
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, Nodx increased 4.5% in February, after a revised 3.3% decrease in January.
Key electronics shipments rose by 6.9% y-o-y in February, building on the 9.5% rise in January. Growth was underpinned by disc-media products, integrated circuits and personal computers.
Non-electronics Nodx increased by 7.8% y-o-y in February, after the 4.8% decline in January.
Non-monetary gold led the charge with a 106.9% expansion, driven by safe-haven demand amid uncertainty.
Measuring instruments grew 23.1%, while other speciality chemicals rose by 37.5%.
Unlike monetary gold exchanged among central banks worldwide, non-monetary gold refers to all other types of gold in circulation. It can take the form of coins, ingots, bars or powder.
Gold is also used as an industrial metal, and as a coating or thin bonding wires for most types of semiconductor chips.
Nodx to the United States, Taiwan and the European Union grew, though shipments to China, Hong Kong, and Indonesia declined.
Shipments to the United States rose by 21.5% in February from a year earlier, following the 27.8% increase in the month before, owing to non-monetary gold, food preparations and medical apparatus.
Shipments to Taiwan surged 77.9% year on year in February, extending a 48.3% expansion in January.
Growth was underpinned by specialised machinery, measuring instruments and other speciality chemicals.
Nodx to the EU grew 16.7% in February, after a 7.3% contraction in the month earlier, owing to pharmaceuticals, measuring instruments and cocoa.
The main drag on Nodx was China, which saw a 27.4% drop in shipments versus a 48.5% plunge in January.
Compared with a year earlier, total trade rose by 4.6% in February, following a revised 6.6% expansion in January.
Enterprise Singapore said in February that Nodx is expected to rise by 1% to 3% this year, after eking out 0.2% growth last year. — The Straits Times/ANN
