Singapore raises trade forecasts as non-oil exports grow 9.1% in second quarter of 2022
A container ship docks at Pasir Panjang terminal in Singapore on Nov 17, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Edgar Su)
SINGAPORE: Singapore raised its trade forecasts on Thursday (Aug 11) amid better than expected performance in the second quarter of 2022.
This was driven by oil and electronics trade and higher than expected oil prices, said Enterprise Singapore (ESG) in its review.
Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) could grow by 5 per cent to 6 per cent, an upgrade from the 3 per cent to 5 per cent forecast issued in May.Â
ESG also increased its projection of total merchandise trade - adjusting it upwards to 15 per cent to 16 per cent year-on-year, higher than the previous 8 per cent to 10 per cent.
ESG data also showed that NODX grew by 9.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2022 on a year-on-year basis, following the 11.4 per cent rise in the previous quarter. The growth was mainly due to non-electronics.
The electronics cluster also grew for a ninth straight quarter, said ESG. Domestic exports of electronic products were up by 9.7 per cent, mainly due to integrated circuits and telecommunications equipment.
NODX to the top markets as a whole grew in the second quarter of this year, though exports to Hong Kong, South Korea, China and the EU declined. The biggest contributors to the NODX growth were Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia.
In its review, ESG also said that total merchandise trade grew by 28.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2021, up from the 20.8 per cent growth in the preceding quarter.
Non-oil trade rose by 19.9 per cent while oil trade expanded by 69.5 per cent amid higher oil prices than a year ago.
On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, total merchandise trade rose by 9.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2022, after the previous quarter’s 5.1 per cent growth. Oil and non-oil trade rose by 31.6 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Wednesday narrowed the country’s GDP growth forecast for the year to 3 to 4 per cent, from 3 to 5 per cent.
This is based on the performance of the Singapore economy in the first half of the year, as well as the latest global and domestic economic developments, said the ministry.
Singapore's economy grew by 4.4 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2022, faster than the 3.8 per cent growth in the previous quarter.
