Singapore's wholesale trade up in 1st quarter 2006

Singapore's domestic and foreign wholesale trade indices grew 7.5 percent and 15.4 percent respectively in the first quarter of 2006 in comparison with the same period last year.

According to the figures released by Singapore Department of Statistics (SDS) Monday, the general wholesale trade sector and the ship chandlers and bunkering sector led the growth of the domestic wholesale trade by expanding 61.6 percent and 37.8 percent respectively in the first quarter of this year.

The electronic components sector and the telecommunications and computers sector also registered double-digit increases in domestic wholesale in the first quarter, while domestic wholesaling of the food, beverages and tobacco sector, the timber, paints and construction materials sector and the petroleum and petroleum products sector contracted year-on-year in the same period.

The ship chandlers and bunkering sector, which rose 63.5 percent in the first quarter of 2006 over the previous year, remained the major growth contributor to the foreign wholesale trade.

The wholesaling of electronic components, petroleum and petroleum products, general wholesale trade and other wholesale trade outside Singapore saw double-digit increases in the quarter.

The foreign wholesaling of timber, paints and construction materials, food, beverages and tobacco, as well as household equipment and furniture, declined in the quarter ending in March 2006.

Source: Xinhua