Singapore Exports Decline for 5th Month; Worst Slump in 6 Years

By Shamim Adam
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Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore's exports declined for the fifth straight month, the longest contraction in six years, as companies shipped fewer electronics and pharmaceuticals to customers in the U.S. and Europe.

Non-oil domestic exports slid 5.7 percent last month from a year earlier, after declining a revised 13.9 percent in August, the government's trade promotion agency said in a statement today. Economists had expected a 9.7 percent drop.

The island's economy entered a recession last quarter amid slowing export demand and a slump in manufacturing, prompting the central bank to end a policy favoring gains in its currency. The government expects overseas shipments to decline as much as 4 percent this year, the worst performance since 2001.

``Labor markets and consumption in the U.S. are getting worse, and Europe is not much better,'' said Alvin Liew, an economist at Standard Chartered Plc in Singapore. ``As long as the U.S. and European economies remain weak, there is little chance of a recovery in Singapore's export demand.''


Exports dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.8 percent last month from August, when they advanced a revised 1.9 percent, today's report showed. Economists had expected a 2 percent gain.

Electronics shipments slipped 10.7 percent in September from a year earlier, the 20th consecutive drop, following a revised 19.6 percent decline in August. Sales of electronics products were worth S$5.6 billion ($3.8 billion) last month, compared with S$5.2 billion in August.

Semiconductors

Singapore's semiconductor shipments rose 0.1 percent from a year earlier after falling 16.4 percent in August. Disk-drive exports declined 8.1 percent in September.

Non-electronics shipments, which include petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, fell 1.9 percent in September from a year earlier. Petrochemical exports gained 13.5 percent.

Pharmaceutical shipments dropped 28.7 percent last month, after sliding 45.2 percent in August. Drug shipments were valued at S$1.3 billion in September, compared with S$1.14 billion the month before.

Non-oil sales to the European Union, Singapore's largest overseas market, fell 23.6 percent in September. Shipments to the U.S., its second-biggest market, dropped 24.5 percent, while exports to China climbed 11.3 percent from a year earlier.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shamim Adam in Singapore at sadam2@bloomberg.net