Singapore to move towards specialties - EDB

28 May 2008 12:17  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--The local petrochemicals industry will be able to capture value from new chains and produce specialty and higher value products on the completion of ExxonMobil’s and Shell’s mega ethylene complex in 2009, said a senior local official in the May edition of the Economic Development Board's Singapore Investment News.

The Singapore petrochemical industry, which is expected to continue with its expansion, grew 11% in 2007 and accounted for an estimated Singapore dollars (S$)83.1bn ($61.1bn) in manufacturing output, said Aw Kah Peng, EDB assistant managing director, in the edition, which was made available to APIC delegates.

Amid competition from extremely cost-efficient regional countries, the only way to maintain competitiveness and growth is to introduce a differentiation factor from the other chemical producing nations.

To do this, Singapore must move up the value chain from commodities to specialities, she added.

Emphasising technology as a critical facilitator in the differentiation process, Singapore’s Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR) has sponsored various public research institutes for chemicals.

“We want to reach a point where we are able to compete with the US, Europe and Japan as an investment location focused on technology intensive processes and high-value specialty products,” said EDB executive director Julian Ho.

Meanwhile, Lucite’s ethylene-based methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant is set to come on stream in the fourth quarter of 2008 with a capacity of 120,000 tonne/year.

The new technology employed in the plant is expected to reduce MMA production costs by using ethylene, carbon monoxide and methanol as feedstock as opposed to the current acetone cyanohydrin feedstock.

The EDB is a government agency responsible for planning and executing economic strategies to enhance Singapore’s position as a global hub for business and investment.

($1 = S$1.36)

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By: Bohan Loh
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