Singapore exports fall for 12th month in September but recovery seen

Singapore’s exports fell for a 12th straight month in September on a year-on-year basis as the trade-reliant economy grappled again with global headwinds on inflation and declining demand.

Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports, or NODX, fell 13.2% in September from the same month a year earlier, data on Tuesday showed, as both electronic and non-electronic exports to its top 10 markets declined.

Last month’s fall compared with a Reuters poll forecast of a 14.7% drop, and extended the 22.5% contraction seen in August.

There were, however, some “green shoots” in some markets, said OCBC economist Selena Ling, adding that September’s data suggested some stabilization.

Non-oil shipments to China grew 26.2%. Non-oil exports to Hong Kong also grew 55%, and to the U.S. by 9.7%.

On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, NODX grew by 11.1% in September, after decreasing 6.6% in August.

Maybank economist Chua Hak Bin said the month-on-month seasonally adjusted numbers are strong, and alongside growing exports to China, Hong Kong and the U.S., “suggests a modest recovery may be underway going into 2024.”

The biggest decline in non-oil shipments was to Indonesia, which contracted 45.2% year-on-year, with lower exports of non-monetary gold, petrochemicals and prepared additive for mineral oils.