Singapore's exports growth jumps in February

Singapore's non-oil domestic exports in February jumped by 30.5 percent year on year, trade promotion agency International Enterprise (IE) Singapore said on Friday. The better-than-expected results, which followed a year-on-year decline of 2.4 percent in the previous month, were attributable to an expansion in both electronics and non-electronics exports, it said. On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, the non-oil domestic exports grew by 6.2 percent, following January's marginal expansion of 0.5 percent. The non-oil domestic exports to all the top ten markets increased, with the top three contributors being the United States, China's Hong Kong and Thailand. The non-oil domestic exports to the United States grew by 48 percent, compared to a 5.4 percent decline the previous month. Shipments to China's Hong Kong rose 57 percent, while those to Thailand surged 73 percent. Shipments to the European Union, Singapore's biggest export destination, rose 11.9 percent year on year in February. The non-oil domestic exports to emerging markets increased 29 percent in the same month, driven largely by exports to Latin America. Total trade increased by 26 percent in February, following a 1. 6 percent rise the previous month. Total exports grew 25 percent last month, compared to a 4.2 percent contraction in January. Electronics exports grew 23.3 percent year on year in February, after falling 10.9 percent in January, thanks to higher shipments of integrated circuits, personal computer parts and telecom equipment.