Singapore’s electronics exports rise at fastest pace in 14 years
By Ailing Tan
(Bloomberg) – Singapore’s electronics shipments gained the most since 2010, fuelled by overseas sales of integrated circuits and disc media products, as the global tech boom is proving a boon to the city-state.
Electronics exports rose 35.1% in August from a year earlier, following a revised increase of 16.8% the previous month, according to data released by Enterprise Singapore on Tuesday. That was the fastest growth since June 2010.
The robust performance of electronics is providing the momentum for Singapore to meet, if not surpass, its gross domestic product forecast of growing at the upper half of its 1%-3% projected band.
The city-state is home to some of the largest chip manufacturing plants in Southeast Asia. Singapore and the broader Southeast Asia region are benefiting as companies diversify their tech supply chains beyond China and Taiwan to reduce risks related to tensions between Beijing and Washington.
“There is market talk that China is front-loading chips in anticipation of potential trade tariffs from the US that are targeted at China,” Selena Ling, chief economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, wrote in a note. “Many uncertainties remain due to the US-China confrontation.”
Global tech companies have announced billions of dollars of fresh investments in the region this year, encouraged by demand for new services such as generative artificial intelligence.
Still, trade-reliant Singapore has reason to be cautious. The island’s non-oil domestic exports were up 10.7%, below the 15% median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Month-on-month, overseas sales declined by 4.7%, reversing the 12.2% expansion in July.
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