Singapore’s Export Growth Accelerates as China Demand Picks Up

(Bloomberg) -- Singapore’s export growth quickened in August, buoyed by rising demand from China and a pickup in key electronic shipments.

Non-oil domestic exports grew 7.7% from a year ago, Enterprise Singapore said in a statement Thursday, far higher than the 3.3% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Compared with the previous month, exports surged 10.5%, against a median estimate of 2.2%.

Key Insights

• The data shows demand for electronics is holding up, with shipments climbing 5.7% in August from a year ago. That reinforces the view of a rebound in Asia’s electronics as sales of semiconductors and computers in countries like South Korea and Taiwan also climb
• Singapore’s exports to China surged 24.5% in August from a year ago, after declining 5.4% in July. Other notable gains last month were to the European Union, U.S. and Taiwan
• The recovery in exports indicates the economic slump in the second quarter probably eased this quarter. Still, the government is forecasting a full-year contraction of 5% to 7% in 2020

What Bloomberg’s Economists Say

Demand from China staged a strong comeback after a lull during the pandemic. Once pent-up demand is satisfied, momentum going forward will hinge on employment prospects in Singapore’s key markets.

Click here to read the full report.

Tamara Mast Henderson, Asean economist

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• Exports of non-electronics goods also picked up. Non-monetary gold shipments surged 55.1% in August from a year ago amid reports of increased demand for the metal as a safe-haven asset. Pharmaceuticals rose 5.6% year-on-year
• For a breakdown of exports by country, click here

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