Singapore key exports rise 16.8% in January; fuels optimism for recovery, albeit a choppy one

SINGAPORE – Singapore’s key exports made a good start to the year with a better-than-expected performance in January, though economists warned of a bumpy road ahead.

Non-oil domestic exports (Nodx) rose 16.8 per cent in January, led by a jump in shipments of specialised machinery to make semiconductors, and non-monetary gold, data from Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) on Feb 16 showed.

The expansion in January came after a 1.5 per cent drop in December, and exceeded the 4.3 per cent growth forecast by economists polled by…