S'pore's key exports up 15.7% in July, reversing five-month decline

Trade agency cautiously optimistic’ about recovery, says key downside risks remain

- Angela Tan

Singapore's key exports saw an unexpectedly big jump in July, reversing a five-month slide as both electronics and non-electronics shipments grew strongly.

Non-oil domestic exports (Nodx) grew 15.7 per cent year on year in July, compared with a revised 8.8 per cent contraction in June and the 1.2 per cent expansion forecast by economists in a Bloomberg poll.

Enterprise Singapore, which released the latest trade data on Aug 16, told The Straits Times that it remains "cautiously optimistic for the recovery going into the second half of the year" but that key downside risks remain, including global export recovery for the rest of 2024 coming in weaker than expected.

"We are continuing to monitor external developments closely and will adjust our forecasts as necessary," it said.

The trade agency on Aug 13 had narrowed its 2024 Nodx forecast to 4 per cent to 5 per cent, the lower half of its earlier 4 per cent to 6 per cent projection.

But it told ST that July's 15.7 per cent Nodx growth "was in line with our expectations of an electronics recovery in the second half of 2024, driven by AI (artificial intelligence) servers and consumer devices".

Enterprise Singapore said: "This comes against the backdrop of even stronger global chips sales of 19.2 per cent for 2024, up from May's forecast of 17.4 per cent by Gartner.