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SINGAPORE'S EXTERNAL TRADE – May 2013

MR No.: 016/13
Singapore, Monday, 17 June 2013
                   

Highlights1        
               
  • On a year-on-year  (y-o-y) basis, NODX declined by 4.6 per cent in May 2013, following the 1.0 per  cent decrease in the previous month, due to a contraction in electronic NODX which outweighed the rise in non-electronic  domestic exports.
  •                                
  • On a y-o-y basis,  NODX to all of the top 10 NODX markets, except  China, Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan, decreased in May 2013. The top three contributors to the NODX contraction in May 2013 were  South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia.
  •                                 
  • On a y-o-y basis,  NORX expanded by 19.1 per cent in May  2013, after the 16.0 per cent increase in the  previous month, due to both electronic and non-electronic NORX.

 
(I) Overall Trend 
1. On a y-o-y basis, NODX contracted by 4.6 per cent in May 2013, following the 1.0 per  cent decrease in the previous month. On a 3-month  moving average (3MMA) y-o-y basis, NODX declined by 3.5 per cent in May 2013, after  the 12.8 per cent contraction in the previous month.
 
2. On a month-on-month  seasonally adjusted (m-o-m SA) basis, NODX declined by 1.1 per cent in May 2013, compared to the previous month’s 1.1 per cent expansion, due to both electronic and non-electronic NODX. On a SA basis, the  level of NODX reached S$14.3 billion in May 2013, lower than the S$14.4  billion registered in the previous month.
 
3. On a SA basis, non-oil retained imports of intermediate goods2 (NORI) grew by S$0.6 billion from S$4.6 billion in the previous month to reach S$5.2 billion in May 2013.           
 
 

(II) Commentaries 

(a) Performance of Key Trade Components 
Total Trade  
4. On a y-o-y basis, total trade contracted by 1.4 per cent in May 2013, in contrast to the  1.9 per cent increase in the previous month. Total exports grew by 1.6 per cent  in May 2013, following the 1.3 per cent expansion in the previous month. Total  imports decreased by 4.5 per cent in May 2013, compared to the 2.4 per cent rise  in the preceding month.
5. On a m-o-m  SA basis, total trade contracted by a marginal 0.1 per cent in May 2013, in  contrast to the 8.1 per cent increase in the previous month. On a SA basis, the level of total trade reached S$83.1 billion in May 2013, lower than  the previous month’s achievement of S$83.2 billion. Total exports rose by a  marginal 0.3 per cent in May 2013, following the 6.7 per cent expansion in the  previous month. Total imports declined by a marginal 0.5 per cent in May 2013, compared  to the 9.7 per cent increase in the previous month.
Non-oil Domestic Exports (NODX)
6. On a y-o-y basis, NODX declined by 4.6 per cent in May 2013, following the 1.0 per cent  contraction in the previous month, due to a decrease in electronic domestic  exports which outweighed the rise in non-electronic domestic exports.
7. Electronic products. On a y-o-y basis, electronic NODX contracted  by 13.2 per cent in May 2013, after the 9.0 per cent decline in the previous  month. The decrease in electronic domestic exports was largely due to parts of  PCs (-31.6 per cent), disk media products (-40.8 per cent) and ICs (-9.5 per  cent).
8. Non-electronic products. On a y-o-y basis, non-electronic NODX  expanded by a marginal 0.2 per cent in May 2013, following the 3.3 per cent increase  in the previous month. The rise in non-electronic NODX was led by  pharmaceuticals (+19.9 per cent), printed matter (+108.8 per cent) and food  preparations (+52.9 per cent).
 
Oil Domestic Exports
9. On a y-o-y basis, oil  domestic exports decreased by 20.6 per cent  in May 2013, after the preceding month’s 8.9 per cent contraction. The y-o-y decline of oil domestic exports was mainly due to lower sales to Malaysia  (-21.4 per cent), Hong Kong (-36.5 per cent) and China (-34.2 per cent). In  volume terms, oil domestic exports decreased by 12.0 per cent in May 2013, compared to the 6.9 per cent expansion in the previous month. On a m-o-m SA basis, oil domestic exports declined by 9.8 per cent in May 2013, following a  marginal contraction of 0.8 per cent in the previous month.
Non-oil Re-exports (NORX)
10. On a y-o-y basis, NORX  grew by 19.13 per cent in May 2013, after the 16.0 per cent expansion in the previous month, due to  both electronic and non-electronic NORX. On a 3MMA y-o-y basis, NORX  rose by 10.8 per cent in May 2013,  in contrast to a marginal 0.2 per cent contraction in the preceding month.
11. On a m-o-m SA basis,  NORX increased by 4.9 per cent in May 2013, following the 13.2 per cent rise in the previous month due to an  expansion in non-electronic NORX which outweighed the decrease in  electronic NORX. On a SA basis, the  level of NORX reached S$20.0 billion in May 2013, higher than the S$19.1  billion registered in the preceding month.
 
12. On a y-o-y basis, electronic NORX rose by 16.9 per cent in May 2013, following the 22.9 per cent rise in the previous month. The expansion  in electronic NORX was due to ICs (+26.1 per cent), parts of ICs (+76.3 per  cent) and telecommunications equipment (+21.1 per cent).
13. On a y-o-y basis, non-electronic NORX expanded by 21.3 per cent in May 2013, after the  9.5 per cent increase in the  previous month. The rise in non-electronic NORX was due to structures of ships  & boats, personal beauty products (+99.1 per cent) and piston engines  (+30.2 per cent).
14. NORX  to all of the top 10 NORX markets, except Indonesia, increased in May 2013. The top three contributors to the NORX rise in May  2013 were South Korea (+38.4 per cent), Hong Kong (+14.5 per cent) and China  (+14.7 per cent).

 

(b) Non-Oil Domestic Export Markets

Overview 4 
15. On a y-o-y basis, NODX  to all of the top 10 NODX markets, except China,  Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan, decreased in May 2013. The top three contributors to the NODX contraction  in May 2013 were South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia.
 
16. NODX to the South Korea declined  by 41.1 per cent in May 2013, following the previous month’s decrease of 27.1 per cent, led by parts of motor  vehicles & tractors (-99.9 per cent), ICs (-44.3 per cent) and parts of PCs  (-87.5 per cent). NODX to Malaysia contracted by 20.4 per cent in May 2013,  after the 13.7 per cent decline in the preceding month, due to ICs (-42.4 per  cent), non-monetary gold (-55.4 per cent) and parts of PCs (-36.2 per cent). NODX to Indonesia decreased by 19.7 per cent in May  2013, following the 4.3 per cent decrease  in the previous month, due to capacitors (-86.4 per cent), telecommunications  equipment (-89.1 per cent) and petrochemicals (-16.8 per cent).
 
17. Emerging markets5 - NODX to emerging markets decreased  by 3.9 per cent in May 2013, in contrast to the 6.2 per cent expansion in the  previous month. The decline in NODX to the emerging markets was due mainly to South  Asia, the Caribbean and the Middle East.
 
1 Definitions for certain product categories have been revised for reports containing data from July 2010 onwards. The revised definitions follow international guidelines. All top products/countries which are stated to have contributed towards the changes in trade figures are ranked by absolute change in level and not change in percentage.
2 NORI is a coincident indicator for NODX.
3 Highest y-o-y growth since August 2010
4 All growth rates quoted in the following analysis refer to year-on-year growth rates unless otherwise stated.
5 Consisting of the Caribbean, Central Asia, CLMV( Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam), Eastern & Southern Europe (non-EU), Latin America, the Middle East, South Asia and South Africa; the list of emerging markets has been updated

For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms Denise Nah, Manager, Corporate Communications Group, IE Singapore
Tel: +65 6433 4738         Fax: +65 6337 8136         Email: denise_nah@iesingapore.gov.sg
                     
Editors kindly note:
Trade statistics released by IE Singapore are proprietary data and therefore copyright belongs to IE Singapore. Any use of the information provided herein must therefore be attributed to IE Singapore.

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