Singapore 2015 non-oil domestic exports seen to grow 1-3%

(releads, updates with 2015 projections and full-year 2014 figures)

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Singapore ’s non-oil domestic exports (NODX) should be able to post growth of between 1.0-3.0% this year, reversing the 0.7% contraction in 2014, amid uncertainties in the global economic outlook, its trade promotion agency said on Tuesday.

In 2014, petrochemical exports increased 22% but were not enough to lift the overall NODX to register expansion, according to International Enterprise (IE) Singapore.

Shipments to China last year rose by 29.4%, while those to neighbouring Indonesia and Malaysia grew by 28.8% and 22%, respectively, it said.

“The global macroeconomic outlook remains soft and growth in 2015 is expected to be only marginally better than in 2014,” IE Singapore said.

China, which is a key import market for petrochemicals in Asia, is expected to see a further deceleration in economic growth this year, while the recent crude price slump has dampened growth prospects in some oil-exporting economies, it said.

“The value of Singapore’s oil trade has fallen as a result of oil-price effects. The US economy remains the key bright spot in a global environment marked by uneven recovery across economies,” it added.

In January 2015, Singapore’s petrochemical exports fell by 17.5% year on year to Singapore dollar (S$) 1.26bn ($926m), but the country’s overall non-oil domestic exports (NODX) grew 4.3% to S$14.2bn, according to official data.

Non-electronic NODX rose by 4.0% year on year to S$10.2bn in January, following the 3.2% increase registered in December 2014,  according to IE Singapore.

In terms of volume, shipments of petrochemicals benzene and toluene in January surged to 25,673 tonnes and 47,844 tonnes, respectively. (Please see table below)

Naphtha exports, meanwhile, fell by 82% year on year to 3,909 tonnes in January, while paraxylene (PX) shipments declined by 4.2% to 57,566 tonnes.

On a year-on-year basis, shipments to eight of the city-state’s top 10 NODX markets increased.

The EU-28 countries, Hong Kong and China were the top three contributors to Singapore’s NODX expansion in January, according to IE Singapore.

Meanwhile, exports to Japan and Indonesia declined during the month.

($1 = S$1.36)