SINGAPORE, Jan 14: Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports in December are expected to have fallen from a year earlier, hurt by continued weak demand for its key electronics shipments and a high year-ago base when exports were boosted by a surge in rig deliveries.
The city-state’s non-oil domestic exports likely fell 7.6 percent last month following a 2.5 percent year-on-year contraction in November, the median estimate of 13 economists polled by Reuters showed.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, exports in December probably expanded 6.2 percent from November, based on estimates of eight economists who provided month-on-month forecasts.
‘December 2011 electronics exports were boosted by diverted orders as a result of flooding in Thailand, and there was a delivery of a large transport engineering order,’ Barclays said in a note to client.
CIMB economist Song Seng Wun said that while electronics shipments are no longer declining at the same pace, the December 2011 figures were boosted by a much larger than usual S$852 million worth of oil rig and other marine-related exports.
Asian exports are struggling to gain traction as Europe remains mired in recession and a recovery in the United States is patchy, even as China’s economy picked up late last year. South Korean exports unexpectedly fell in December.
Manufacturing activity in Singapore contracted for a sixth consecutive month in December as orders fell further, bucking the improvement seen in many other countries, the latest Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) has shown.
Singapore, whose trade is around three times GDP, has been badly hit by weakness in Western economies that has crimped demand for many of its exports. Its electronics manufacturers have also failed to tap surging demand for smartphones, unlike rivals in South Korea and Taiwan.
In addition, Singapore firms are grappling with a strong local dollar and government measures that make it harder for firms to hire low-cost workers from abroad.
Advance GDP figures show Singapore’s manufacturing sector shrank 10.8 percent sequentially in the fourth quarter on an annualised and seasonally adjusted basis, worsening from the 9.9 percent contraction in the third quarter.
(AGENCIES)
Follow our WhatsApp channel