Singapore total Q2 trade expands 28% on-year

Singapore saw good growth on the trade front in the second quarter.

Trade promotion agency IE Singapore says the country’s second quarter total trade expanded by 28 per cent on-year in the second quarter.

It's slightly above the first quarter's increase of 27 per cent.

IE Singapore says the total trade's year-on-year rise can be attributed to increases in both oil and non-oil trade.

Oil trade grew by 47 per cent on-year, after the previous quarter's 58 per cent rise.

Non-oil trade, meanwhile, increased by 22 per cent, following the 19 per cent expansion in the first quarter

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, Singapore’s total trade rose by 4.7 per cent in the second quarter.

That marks a slowdown from the nine per cent expansion in the previous quarter

As for non-oil domestic exports or NODX, it expanded by nine per cent on-quarter in the April to June period.

That follows the on-quarter growth of 8.3 per cent in the previous quarter.

On a year-on-year basis, NODX increased by 28 per cent in the second quarter, after the 23 per cent growth in the previous quarter

Higher shipments of both electronic and non-electronic NODX helped to raise exports.

Non-electronic NODX increased by 24 per cent in the second quarter, while electronic domestic exports rose by 34 per cent.

IE Singapore says all top 10 NODX markets expanded in the three months to June.

The biggest contributors to the NODX increase in the quarter were China, the EU 27 and Hong Kong.

Specifically, NODX to China grew by 43 per cent in the second quarter, after expanding by 25 per cent in the first quarter.

NODX to the EU 27 continued to rise by 30 per cent, following a 4.7 per cent increase in 1Q 2010.

NODX to Hong Kong also grew by 42 per cent in 2Q 2010 after a rise of 53 per cent in the first quarter

IE Singapore says the strong expansion in trade was larger than expected and can be attributed to strong world trade growth.

It notes that both oil and non-oil trade increased simultaneously in the second quarter, with higher oil prices compared to the previous year.

For the rest of this year, it expects external conditions to be more subdued.

IE Singapore says the weakening of the Euro against the currencies of key trading partners and sluggish domestic demand in the US and Europe may dampen world trade.

It has maintained its total trade growth in 2010 of between 17 and 19 per cent.

IE Singapore has also kept the forecast for NODX growth in 2010 at between 15 and 17 per cent.

- CNA/jm
10 August 2010