A rise in pharmaceutical shipments to Europe led to an unexpected lift in Singapore’s non-oil exports last month, trade promotion agency International Enterprise Singapore has said.
Exports of goods rose 9% in December compared with the previous year, after rising 1.4% in November, outweighing the decrease in electronic domestic exports. But the advance in overseas sales may be short-lived as the Europe debt crisis curbs demand for Asian goods, reports Bloomberg.
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DBS Group Holdings economist Ivan Seah told the news cooperation, "The export sector is facing tremendous headwinds as the malaise in Europe and the slow recovery in the US are taking a toll on global demand."
Singapore acts as a trading hub to connect South-East Asia and the Western world and is a major re-exporter of pharmaceuticals. According to a report by Espicom Business Intelligence in October last year said the country’s biologic manufacturing sector is growing, with Baxter, GlaxoSmithKline, Lonza and Roche announcing significant investments to set up major biologics facilities that amount to $2bn in capital expenditure.
