Singapore's miserable run on the exports front has continued and the advance official estimate of strong GDP growth in the last quarter may turn out to be overly optimistic.

There are also questions over whether key non‐oil domestic exports (NODX) will pick up steam in the second half after they wrapped up the April‐June quarter with the longest run of declines since the
global financial crisis.

The NODX extended its fall in June with a steeper‐than‐expected 8.8 per cent tumble from a year ago, the fifth drop in as many months, according to the latest trade figures released yesterday by the government's trade promotion agency International Enterprise Singapore.

Compared with the previous month, the NODX rose a seasonally adjusted 3.2 per cent in June to reverse a 1.1 per cent dip in the month before.

Except for China, NODX shipments to all of Singapore's top 10 markets fell last month, with the European Union, Indonesia and Japan the biggest contributors to the decline. The slip‐back into decline mode in June suggested that regional trade recovery remains very weak.

Many private‐sector economists who saw a second‐half rebound are starting to change their tune.

The latest trade numbers show electronics NODX shipment fell 12.4 per cent in June, extending the slump to 11th month. Non‐electronics NODX exports, which included pharmaceuticals, slipped 7.1 per cent. Pharmaceutical shipments sank 35.4 per cent. Such depressing figures certainly do not give hope of a quick
recovery.

Source: AmFraser