Corrected: Singapore March petchem exports fall 13.4%; NODX up 18.5%

Correction: In the ICIS news story headlined “Singapore’s March petchem exports fall by 13.4%; NODX up 18.5%” dated 17 April 2015, please read in the fourth paragraph … and those of toluene rising to 32,388 tonnes … instead of … and those of toluene rising to 32,288 tonnes …. A corrected story follows.

By Nurluqman Suratman

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Singapore’s petrochemical exports in March fell by 13.4% year on year to Singapore dollar (S$) 1.4bn ($1.04bn), contracting for the third consecutive month, official data showed on Friday.

In February and January, the country’s petrochemical shipments declined by an annual rate of 30.9% and 17.5%, respectively.

Overall petrochemical exports last month declined although shipments to the EU-28 more than doubled on a year-on-year basis, according to International Enterprise (IE) Singapore.

In volume terms, exports of most key aromatic products rose in March compared with the previous corresponding period, with shipments of benzene jumping to 86,946 tonnes, and those of toluene rising to 32,388 tonnes. (Please see table below)

Exports of orthoxylene (OX) and paraxylene (PX) also increased to 12,157 tonnes and 65,772 tonnes, respectively.

Overseas shipments of phenol rose to 12,233 tonnes, while exports of acetone increased to 16,182 tonnes.

Naphtha exports surged to 173,880 tonnes in March, with the bulk of the volumes shipped out to Vietnam. Singapore exported 82,255 tonnes to Vietnam in March, compared with just nine tonnes in March 2014.

Meanwhile, the country’s non-oil domestic exports (NODX) in March grew by 18.5% to S$16.2bn, reversing the 9.7% decline in the previous month, it said.

“While this is less severe compared to a 9.7% drop in February, two months of decline in a row is certainly worth taking note of,” said Singapore-based DBS Group Research.

“While some may highlight the fact that February export data is often distorted by the Lunar New Year effect, stripping out such festive seasonality still points to a dire outcome,” DBS said.

The Lunar New Year holiday on 19 February is celebrated in most parts of southeast and northeast Asia.

“For a small and an open economy, if NODX does not recover in the coming months, [Singapore’s] overall GDP perfor­mance will be under severe risk,” DBS said.

Singapore’s economy grew by 2.1% year on year in the first quarter of 2015, according to advance estimates by the Ministry of Trade and Industry earlier this week.

The government is forecasting a 2.0-4.0% growth this year, from an average growth of 2.9% in 2014.

In March this year, electronic NODX rose by 10.4% year on year to S$4.19bn, reversing the 12.5% fall in February.

Non-electronic NODX, which includes pharmaceutical and petrochemical shipments, rose by 21.6% to S$12.2bn, reversing the 8.5% contraction in the previous month, the trade promotion agency said.

The top three contributors to the NODX growth in March 2015 were the EU-28, the US and Malaysia, it said.

Source: IE Singapore

($1 = S$1.35)

Read John Richardson and Malini Hariharan’s blog – Asian Chemical Connections