Singapore exports fall to 7-month low in October, driven by downbeat pharma sector

Exports in Singapore fell to a 7-month low during the period of September, driven by weakness in the country’s pharmaceutical sector. Also, overall lower demand from overseas market has raised the risks of a recession in the highly trade-dependent economy, especially after markets remain volatile to the U.S. presidential election result. Investors and other market participants will be closely eyeing the developments in the policies of the States, led by Donald Trump.

Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports (NODX) fell 12 percent from a year earlier, compared with a revised 5 percent drop in September, data released by the International Enterprise Singapore showed Thursday. That was worse than the median estimate of a 3 percent decline in a Bloomberg survey of 15 economists

Further, compared with the previous month, non-oil exports fell 3.7 percent. Pharmaceutical exports, one of the most volatile components in the index, fell 47 percent from a year earlier. Further, exports of petrochemicals fell 7 percent in October from a year ago, while electronic shipments were down 6 percent.

Also, trade with the country’s top 10 trading partners fell during the period, led by European Union, Japan and Indonesia. However, those to Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea did not witness any large changes.

"The Q4 growth could be negative if we see materialisation of Trump's protectionism. That would significantly disrupt Asian supply chain," Reuters reported, citing Weiwen Ng, Economist, ANZ in Singapore.

Meanwhile, the three-month Singapore interbank offered rate, a benchmark used to set interest rates on mortgages, rose to 0.91 percent, the highest since July.