Extending a rebound from November, exports in Singapore rose further last month in December extending a rebound from November, as per the figures released by International Enterprise (IE) Singapore.
With a growth of 11.5% from the previous month, non-oil domestic exports (NODX) expanded 9.4 per cent in December.
“The increase was due to a rise in both electronic and non-electronic shipments,” IE Singapore said.
“The 9.4 per cent rise in NODX in December came as a surprise as the market consensus was for a 5.8 per cent growth,” said Selena Ling, OCBC’s Head of Treasury Research and Strategy. She also added that the figures suggest that NODX bottomed out in the second half of last year.
“Still, despite the strong December figures, exports for the whole of 2016 fell 2.4 per cent, down from 2015’s 0.2 per cent expansion,” she further said.
Contributing the most to the rise, specialised machinery, petrochemicals and primary chemicals grew by 63.6 per cent, 28.5 per cent and 58.2 per cent respectively.
Non-electronic exports grew 11.3 per cent, following a 15.3 per cent expansion in the previous month.
Electronic exports rose 5.7 per cent, following a 3.5 per cent increase in the previous month.
Contributing the most to the growth in electronic shipments, ICs, parts of PCs and consumer electronics expanded by 29.9 per cent, 4.9 per cent and 8.8 per cent respectively.
Shipments to six of Singapore’s top 10 markets expanded. The largest contributors to the increase were China (33.5 per cent), Taiwan (54.8 per cent) and Hong Kong (20.6 per cent).
Non-oil re-exports (NORX) rose 3.9 per cent last month, following a 3.1 per cent increase in November. Both electronic and non-electronic re-exports increased, IE Singapore said.
The bank said it maintains its forecast of 0.7 per cent growth for NODX this year.