Domestic wholesale trade plunged 15.9% in Q4

Blame petroleum price decreases.

Domestic wholesale trade in Singapore dropped 14.9% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, dragged mainly by lower prices of petroleum and chemical products.

Latest data from the Department of Statistics show that sharp declines in domestic sales were reported in the ship chandlers & bunkering, chemicals & chemical products and petroleum & petroleum products industries.

Decreases in domestic sales of between 1.2% and 4.5% were also experienced in the industrial & construction machinery, food, beverages & tobacco, metals, timber & construction materials and general wholesale trade industries.

In contrast, the telecommunications & computers, electronic components, transport equipment and household equipment & furniture industries reported increases of 2.0% to 8.6% correspondingly in domestic sales.

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, domestic wholesale trade dropped 1.1% in the quarter. Excluding petroleum, domestic wholesale trade declined 1.6%.