Singapore port terminals handled 5.9 percent more containers in July than in June, but traffic plunged 18.6 percent from a year earlier, data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore showed. The numbers show trade at the world's busiest container port has improved as the global economy slowly pulls out of its worst slump in decades. Most containers passing through Singapore
's port are transshipments between East and West, and so are a barometer of world trade. The July figures come as the Singapore government narrowed down an expected contraction of 2009 non-oil exports to 10-12 percent. However, while July container throughput was the highest since November 2008, the government and private analysts said it was too early to say if Singapore is seeing a strong, sustained trade recovery. "For now, the global demand story remains tepid, and hence export demand weakness across both non-electronics and electronics could linger for a couple more months," said economist Selena Ling of OCBC bank. Singapore relies on exports for about 60 percent of its economy, and will report July export data on Friday. (To read an analysts forecasts of the data, click on) State-owned PSA International, which runs ports around the world, said container volumes at its Singapore port fell 17.8 percent in the year to July, versus the same period a year ago. The world trade downturn has battered shipping firms such as Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines and pushed Singapore into its deepest ever economic contraction in the first quarter.
Source : http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=7476441&subject=economic&action=article
's port are transshipments between East and West, and so are a barometer of world trade. The July figures come as the Singapore government narrowed down an expected contraction of 2009 non-oil exports to 10-12 percent. However, while July container throughput was the highest since November 2008, the government and private analysts said it was too early to say if Singapore is seeing a strong, sustained trade recovery. "For now, the global demand story remains tepid, and hence export demand weakness across both non-electronics and electronics could linger for a couple more months," said economist Selena Ling of OCBC bank. Singapore relies on exports for about 60 percent of its economy, and will report July export data on Friday. (To read an analysts forecasts of the data, click on) State-owned PSA International, which runs ports around the world, said container volumes at its Singapore port fell 17.8 percent in the year to July, versus the same period a year ago. The world trade downturn has battered shipping firms such as Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines and pushed Singapore into its deepest ever economic contraction in the first quarter.Source : http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=7476441&subject=economic&action=article
