[SINGAPORE] The Republic’s non-oil domestic exports (NODX) rose 20.7 per cent year on year in June, moderating from the 38.4 per cent increase in May, data from Enterprise Singapore showed on Friday (Jul 17).
It also fell short of private-sector economists’ median forecast of 28.7 per cent year-on-year growth, a Bloomberg poll showed.
Nevertheless, electronics NODX surged 105.1 per cent in June, up from 94.8 per cent growth in May, supported by robust artificial intelligence-related demand.
Growth in this segment was mainly driven by integrated circuits, which expanded 115.4 per cent and added S$1.9 billion.
DBS senior economist Chua Han Teng said such solid gains reflected the global demand for memory chips.
Other factors that drove electronics NODX growth was a 170.9 per cent rise in disk media products, which contributed S$8 million in value, as well as 95.8 per cent expansion in the exports of personal computers which added S$500 million.
Meanwhile, non-electronics shipments decreased 2.9 per cent in June, reversing the previous month’s 17.7 per cent growth. This was driven by declines in non-monetary gold (-49 per cent), food preparations (-38.6 per cent) and petrochemicals (-27.9 per cent).
Chua said the petrochemicals segment continues to be weighed down by feedstock disruptions in the Middle East.
Despite the moderation in June, Chua noted that NODX expanded 27.4 per cent year on year in the second quarter of 2026, marking its strongest quarterly growth since the second quarter of 2010.
In the first half of 2026, NODX grew 18.6 per cent.
Overall, total merchandise trade expanded 49.3 per cent year on year in June, extending May’s 39.6 per cent rise. Both exports and imports grew.
The rise in total exports was driven by growth in both non-oil exports (up 48 per cent) and oil exports (up 54.5 per cent).
Total imports climbed 49.8 per cent.
Top markets
In June, key exports to all of Singapore’s top 10 markets increased year on year.
This was led by Taiwan (123.3 per cent), South Korea (62.9 per cent) and Thailand (41.5 per cent).
The US, Malaysia and Hong Kong posted growth of 36.7 per cent, 35.3 per cent and 25.9 per cent, respectively.
This was followed by the EU 27 (20.8 per cent), India (18.2 per cent), China (7.4 per cent) and Indonesia (2.7 per cent).
Positive in the near term
Chua expects NODX growth to remain positive in the near term, though he cautioned that challenges persist, including uneven performance across segments and high base effects in the first half of 2026.
“NODX growth continues to be supported, thanks to global AI-related tailwinds, with strong hyperscaler investment driving robust demand for electronics products such as memory chips and server-related products, despite supply constraints,” he said.
However, he expects headwinds facing petrochemical exports to persist into the third quarter, as renewed tensions in the Middle East delay the recovery of feedstock supplies.
“Anyway, a return to pre-war feedstock conditions is expected to take time, given the continued caution surrounding transit through the Strait of Hormuz,” said Chua.
