Singapore’s April non-oil exports shrink less than expected

Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports were reported to have decreased at a lesser rate than expected in April, while marking the third consecutive month of decline.

The nation’s non-oil exports dropped 9.3% year-on-year in April, following a 20.8% slump in March.

A consensus of analyst estimates had pointed to a 10% YoY drop.

In April, sales of non-electronic products shrank at a softer pace, by 12.3% YoY after a 23.2% YoY decline in March.

Meanwhile, shipments of electronic products rose 3.3% YoY, rebounding after a 9.5% slump in March and reflecting a surge in sales of PCs (73.3%), disk media products (39.6%) and other computer peripherals (782.6%).

Among trading partners, Singapore’s shipments increased to Malaysia (45.6% YoY), China (34.5% YoY) and Hong Kong (27.2% YoY) in April.

Conversely, shipments decreased to the United States (-40.6% YoY) and to the European Union (-55.1% YoY).

In monthly terms, Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports rose 7.6% in April, or the most in seven months, recovering from a revised up 8.5% drop in March.

The USD/SGD currency pair settled 0.01% higher at 1.3454 on Friday. For the week, the exotic currency pair retreated 0.66%, as it reversed a 0.37% gain in the prior week.