Singapore exports contract 4.5% in September

Singapore's non-oil domestic exports (NODX) contracted 4.5 per cent in Sept 2011 compared to a year earlier, due to a 14 per cent decline in electronic NODX outweighing the expansion in non-electronic NODX, IE Singapore said on Monday.

The 14 per cent dip in electronic NODX follows a 19 per cent decline in the previous month. The decrease was largely due to disk drives, which dipped 54 per cent, ICs, and parts of ICs.

Year-on-year, non-electronic NODX expanded a marginal 0.9 per cent in Sept 2011. The rise in non-electronic NODX was led by pharmaceuticals, up 12 per cent, civil engineering equipment parts, up 54 per cent and printed matter, which rose 37 per cent.

On a year-on-year basis, total trade rose by 7.0 per cent in Sept 2011, following the 9.9 per cent growth in the previous month. Total exports expanded by 7.1 per cent in Sept 2011, following the 4.1 per cent increase in the previous month. Total imports grew by 6.8 per cent in Sept 2011, after the 17 per cent increase in the preceding month.