Singapore exports blow past forecast, jumping 12.1% on low base, chip crunch in March

SINGAPORE'S key exports extended gains in March for the fourth straight month, helped by non-electronics shipment growth and a low base for electronics.

Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) surged by 12.1 per cent year on year, a pickup from the growth of 4.2 per cent in the month before.

The expansion, announced on Friday by trade agency Enterprise Singapore (ESG), handily beat the median rise of 2.6 per cent estimated by private-sector analysts in a Bloomberg poll.

Electronic NODX grew by 24.4 per cent, compared with 7.3 per cent in February, and lifted by a year-ago trough in March 2020. The latest performance was driven by a 19 per cent jump in integrated circuits, with ESG citing reports of global chip shortages worldwide.

Non-electronic shipments expanded by 9.4 per cent, after gaining 3.2 per cent the month before, thanks to petrochemicals, specialised machinery and pharmaceuticals.

Petrochemicals rebounded by 51.4 per cent from a cyclical decline, while pharmaceuticals, which added 25.5 per cent, are typically volatile, ESG noted. "Robust" semiconductor demand, meanwhile, boosted specialised machinery to an expansion of 35.1 per cent.

On a monthly, seasonally-adjusted basis, NODX increased by 1.2 per cent to S$16.9 billion.

NODX rose year on year to six of the Republic's top 10 markets, on non-electronics products.

Singapore saw more demand for specialised machinery, petrochemicals, and primary chemicals in China; pharmaceuticals, specialised machinery, and telecom equipment in the European Union; and petrochemicals, non-monetary gold, and diodes and transistors in Malaysia.

Conversely, NODX to Thailand, the United States, Japan and Hong Kong declined - also weighed down by lower demand in the non-electronics clusters.

Meanwhile, NODX to emerging markets grew by 67.9 per cent year on year, mainly due to South Asia, Latin America and the Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam region.

Overall, total trade rose by 19.6 per cent in March, after a contraction of 3.3 per cent the month before, with both exports and imports increasing.

ESG attributed the growth to the oil trade, as prices were up on the year-ago low base, and to electronics, where "strong global semiconductor demand" fuelled double-digit expansion.