After two months of registering flat growth, Singapore's non-oil domestic exports (NODX) regained momentum and gained an 8.2 percent growth in the month of June.
According to the International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, the year-on-year (YoY) improvement in NODX is due to the improvements seen in both electronic and non-electronic exports.
The still strong exports of integrated circuits, disk media products, and capacitors, have led to the 5.4 percent growth in electronic NODX. However, figures for the past month paled in comparison to the preceding month's robust 28.9 percent growth.
The easing in the electronics sector is due to the contraction seen in the exports of parts of PCs, which declined for the first time in nine months.
On the other hand, non-electronic products reversed its 8.6% loss in May and rose 9.3 percent in June. This is on the back of non-monetary gold, specialised machinery, and petrochemicals exports which increased 148 percent, 76.1 percent, and 13.7 percent, respectively.
According to Maybank Kim Eng analysts Chua Hak Bin and Lee Ju Ye, pharmaceuticals remained a drag to the growth of non-electronic NODX, reflecting a 34.2 percent decline.
The analysts said NODX is expected to remain robust as the rest of the year unfolds. They indicated that during the first six months of the year, NODX has increased by 8.6 percent.
"We expect NODX to continue posting robust growth for the next four months before moderating in November/December due to high base effects," the analysts said in a report.
In terms of markets, exports to China remained robust, up by 48.9% in June on the back of strong non-monetary gold, ICs, and petrochemicals. Exports to South Korea, Japan, Malaysia and
Hong Kong also grew, offsetting the declines seen in exports to the US, Taiwan, the EU 28, Thailand and Indonesia
Overall, Singapore's total trade increased by 7.5 percent in June, marking the eight consecutive growth month for both exports and imports. The total exports expanded by 7.9 percent whilst the total imports jumped 6.9 percent.
