Singapore February petchem exports to top 10 trade partners rise

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Singapore has registered a rise in petrochemical export volumes to all of its top 10 trading partners in February, according to trade statistics released by International Enterprise (IE) Singapore on Wednesday.

"The [22% year-on-year] increase in non-electronic, non-oil domestic exports was led by higher domestic exports of pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals and specialised machinery," IE Singapore, the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s lead agency, said.

Singapore’s top 10 trading partners and export destinations are the 27 member countries of the European Union (EU), the US, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan.

Singapore’s petrochemical exports to the 27 countries of the EU increased more than fivefold compared with February 2009, while cargoes to the neighbouring country Malaysia rose 65% year on year, according to the IE Singapore figures.

Cargo volumes to South Korea rose more than fourfold year on year, while those to Thailand increased 55% year on year, the agency said.

Meanwhile, non-electronic, non-oil domestic exports to emerging markets rose 2.4% year on year in February, following a 1.3% rise in the previous month, due to increased shipments to South Asia and Latin America, it said.

Emerging markets that the city-state exports to include Central Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe, IE Singapore said.