Singapore Exports Fall

Singapore’s key non-oil domestic exports unexpectedly declined in February, due to a fall in shipments of electronics and non-electronics goods, MarketWatch reported. Exports of goods made in Singapore fell 5.9% in February compared with a year earlier, after posting a 12.9% gain in January, trade promotion agency International Enterprise Singapore said Friday. Compared with the previous month, exports fell 2.6% in seasonally adjusted terms, after a 0.4% contraction in January. Economists in the poll had projected a median 1.6% contraction in February. Electronics exports declined 12.3% from a year earlier, after falling 3.9% in January, while non-electronics shipments fell 3.4 after posting a 20.7% gain in January. In the non-electronics sector, pharmaceutical exports fell 8.0%, after a 8.7% fall in the previous month. The city-state’s shipments to China, its biggest export destination, fell 23.6% in February from a year earlier, compared with a 3.3% gain in the previous month, IE Singapore said. Exports to the European Union fell 15.8% from a year earlier, reversing a 16.8% gain in January. Exports to the US, however, grew 54.7%, extending the previous month’s 53.3% increase.