Selangor Journal
Container cranes are pictured at the port of Singapore, on June 10, 2018. — Picture by REUTERS

Singapore’s January exports up 16.8 pct year-on-year, steeper rise than forecast

SINGAPORE, Feb 16 — Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports grew 16.8 per cent in January from the same month a year earlier, official data showed on Friday, aided by growth in both electronic and non-electronic products.

Last month’s increase compared with a Reuters poll forecast of 5.4 per cent growth, reversing the 1.5 per cent contraction seen in December.

In a press release, Entreprise Singapore said the expansion came from “the low base a year ago”.

Non-oil domestic exports amounted to S$13.3 billion (US$9.88 billion) in January last year, compared to S$15.5 billion last month.

The expansion continued the growth seen in November, when non-oil domestic exports grew 1 per cent after falling for 13 consecutive months.

On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, non-oil domestic exports grew 2.3 per cent in January, after declining 2.8 per cent in December.

Non-oil exports to the top markets as a whole rose in January.

The biggest expansion was in shipments to China, which grew 101.3 per cent from a year earlier with higher exports of specialised machinery, non-monetary gold and measuring instruments.

— Reuters

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