SINGAPORE (Nikkei Markets) -- Singapore's core exports fell for the first time in eight months in November, a further sign that economic growth is waning as shipments to China continue to decline. Although exports of electronic items, which bolstered growth in 2017, rose during the month for the first time in nearly a year, the rebound was driven mainly by semiconductors. "At this juncture, it still bears watching if the rebound in electronics exportxxxs is sustainable into the first quarter of 2019 given the improvement is relatively narrow-based," said Selena Ling, head of treasury research and strategy at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Singapore, whose trade is around three times gross domestic product, has seen growth soften in recent months amid signs of weakness in China, its largest export market, and as the trade war between Washington and Beijing disrupts supply chains across the region. Exports to the majority of the top markets declined in November, trade agency Enterprise Singapore said, while releasing the data. Besides China, shipments to South Korea and Indonesia plunged while those to the U.S. continued to rise. Overall, non-oil exports dropped 2.6% in November from a year ago. The decline, the first since March, was worse than the consensus forecast for growth of 1.2% and a sharp reversal from October's on-year expansion of 8.2%. Enterprise Singapore said November's fall was partly due to the high base a year ago. Compared with a month ago, non-oil exports declined by 4.2% in November to 14.9 billion Singapore dollars ($10.8 billion) after seasonal adjustments. Singapore reports non-oil domestic exports as these provide a better gauge of economic activity. This is because prices of refined oil products tend to be volatile, while total exports include the billions of dollars of goods produced elsewhere that are shipped through Singapore's container ports, the world's second busiest after Shanghai's. Noting that exports to China contracted for the seventh consecutive month, RHB economist Ahmad Nazmi Idrus said in a note that the weaker demand "points to China's softening growth as it winds down economic excesses fuelled by cheap credit." Shipments to China plunged 16% in November following the previous month's contraction of 25.8%, while shipments to the U.S. gained 33.1%, faster than October's on-year pace of 32.8%. OCBC's Ling said that with just one more month of non-oil domestic exports data remaining for 2018, full-year growth looks likely to come in at the low end of Enterprise Singapore's forecast of 5.5-6.0%. Last month, Singapore said GDP growth slowed to 2.2% for the three months ended September from the same period a year ago, slowing sharply from the over 4% expansion in the first two quarters. A quarterly survey by the Monetary Authority of Singapore released last week showed private sector economists expect the city-state's GDP growth to ease to 2.6% next year after an estimated expansion of 3.3% in 2018, with the loss of momentum coming primarily from the manufacturing sector. According to Enterprise Singapore, shipments of electronics gained 4.5% in November from a year ago, while those of non-electronics dropped 5.2% led by declines in non-monetary gold, specialized machinery and petrochemicals. --Kevin Lim
Singapore 's core exports fell for the first time in eight months , with exports of non - electronic goods falling by 5.2 % YoY in November , while exports of electronic goods rose by 4.5 % over the same period . Evidence for the decline in non - electronics were a fall in non - monetary gold , specialised metals and petrochemicals . The rise in electronics , driven by a rebound in the demand for semiconductors , marked the first monthly growth of the sector in almost a year . Meanwhile , weak imports saw shipments to its largest export market China , along with South Korea and Indonesia plunge , while exports to the US increased .