Singapore June petrochemical exports fall 15.6% on year

Nurluqman Suratman

18-Jul-2016

(adds details throughout)

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Singapore’s petrochemical exports fell for the fifth straight month in June, posting a 15.6% year-on-year decline to Singapore dollar (S$) 1.15bn ($851m), marked by sharp declines in volumes, official data showed on Monday.

In May, the country’s petrochemical exports had a 12.1% year-on-year contraction, after shrinking 16.7% in April, according to International Enterprise (IE) Singapore.

By volume, June exports of major petrochemical products slumped, with paraxylene (PX) shipments falling 76.9% year on year to 402,807 tonnes, according to the trade promotion agency. (Please see table below)

Exports of benzene plunged 91.6% to 41,619 tonnes, while those of toluene fell by 78.1% to 50,814 tonnes, the data showed.

Singapore’s naphtha exports last month fell by 82.4% year on year to 603,717 tonnes, while shipments of ethylene glycol declined by 58.4% to 64,983 tonnes.

The steep year-on-year fall in petrochemical export volumes may be attributed to the prolonged shutdown of Shell’s cracker complex in Palau Bukom.

Shell’s cracker – with a 960,000 tonne/year ethylene capacity and supplies feedstock to various downstream units in Singapore – was shut in November last year to resolve issues linked to corrosion. It has restarted this month, according to market sources.

Meanwhile, Singapore’s overall June NODX fell 2.3% year on year to Singapore dollar S$13.0bn, a reversal of the 11.6% growth recorded in May, it said.

“May’s NODX sales were strong…but the irony is that it was largely due to a spike up in some unusual export products, which is unlikely to be sustainable,” said Singapore-based DBS Group Research.

The drop in NODX figures in June represents a “fall back to reality”, it said, noting that Singapore’s June overall purchasing managers’ index (PMI) had fallen to 49.6 for the month from 49.8 in May.

“This set of figures has underscored the fact that export outlook can’t possibly be great amid the external headwinds and global uncertainties,” it said.

Non-electronic NODX, which includes pharmaceuticals and petrochemicals, posted a 2.5% year-on-year decline to S$9.50bn; while electronic NODX was down by 1.7% at S$3.91bn, according to IE Singapore.

The country’s overall shipments to seven of its top 10 markets declined last month. (Please see table below)

“The largest contributors to the NODX contraction were China, Indonesia and EU 28,” IE Singapore said.

The drop in June NODX was “largely in line with expectations”, said Singapore-based UOB Global Economics & Markets Research.

“Anaemic global demand recovery is expected to continue to exert downward pressure on growth,” it said.

Product

June 2016 (tonnes)

June 2015 (tonnes)

% Change YOY

Benzene

41,619.12

496,989.72

-91.63

Toluene

50,814.31

231,974.60

-78.09

Orthoxylene

9,025.23

38,987.51

-76.85

Paraxylene

95,322.27

402,806.91

-76.34

Methanol

34,646.83

322,396.19

-89.25

Ethylene Glycol

63,982.75

153,634.72

-58.35

Phenol

15,439.79

49,598.39

-68.87

Acetone

18,413.69

71,930.91

-74.40

Ethyl Acetate

7,299.77

51,695.74

-85.88

Vinyl Acetate

35,923.51

209,211.09

-82.83

Polycarbonates

14,515.98

124,146.87

-88.31

Naphtha

603,716.99

3,427,406.61

-82.39

Source: IE Singapore

Initial reporting by Clarence Tay

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