SINGAPORE (May 20): Singapore’s domestic wholesale trade shrank in 1Q this year by 22.6% from a year ago, partly as a result of lower weaker prices of petroleum and chemical products, according to data released by the Singapore Department of Statistics on Friday.

The shipchandlers & bunkering, petroleum & petroleum products, and general wholesale trade sectors experienced the sharpest y-o-y drops in domestic sales of 39.9%, 38.2% and 34.3% respectively.

Excluding petroleum, domestic wholesale trade fell by 11.4% as opposed to 1Q15. Overall domestic wholesale trade chalked a smaller y-o-y decrease of 1.7% after adjusting for price changes.

Compared with a quarter ago, domestic wholesale trade declined 17.2% in 1Q16 over 4Q15, and decreased at a smaller extent of 7.2% excluding petroleum. Without the price effect, overall domestic wholesale trade fell 10.9% q-o-q.

Meanwhile, foreign wholesale trade has slipped 17.4% y-o-y due to lower prices of petroleum and chemical products. Excluding petroleum, foreign wholesale trade fell 13.2% – but grew 4.0% y-o-y after adjusting for price changes.

Foreign wholesale trade dropped 13.0% on a q-o-q seasonally adjusted basis, and fell 8.6% excluding petroleum. Overall foreign wholesale trade registered a significantly smaller decrease of 0.8% after adjusting for price changes.