Singapore key exports fall at slower pace

Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) were 12.1 percent lower year on year.

The figure was slower than the 19.2 percent fall recorded in April and the 17.3 percent drop in March, according to the data released by International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, the government's trade promotion body.

It was also better than the 16.6 percent drop expected in a Dow Jones Newswires poll of analysts.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, NODX rose 5.6 percent month on month in May following a 1.4 percent drop in April, IE Singapore said. The decline in May exports was the 13th consecutive month of contraction for the trade-reliant economy which fell into recession in the third quarter of last year as it was hit by the global economic and financial crisis.

Total NODX for May was S$10.94 billion (US$7.51 billion) and total trade fell 26.7 percent to S$57.63 billion from a year ago.

NODX is one of the leading indicators closely watched for the state of the Singapore economy which is heavily dependent on exports, especially to the United States, Japan and other major economies.

Singapore's exports to its key markets remained in the red in May on weak demand for electronic products and petrochemicals.

Total electronics exports fell 21.8 percent year-on-year to S$3.89 billion while petrochemicals slumped 37.1 percent to S$669 million.

The only positive data was a 40.2 percent rise in pharmaceuticals, another key but volatile export.

Shipments to Singapore's top ten export markets all tumbled in May with the exception of Taiwan and South Korea, IE Singapore said.

NODX to the United States fell the steepest by 35.2 percent, followed by Japan at 29.2 percent and then Malaysia by 22.9 percent, it said.

Exports to the European Union sank 9.6 percent and shipments to China were down 17.8 percent.

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