Singapore March petrochemical exports fall 3.6%; NODX slumps 20.7%

Overall exports of chemicals and chemical products in March fell by 37% year on year to S$3.54 billion, reversing the 5.8% expansion in February, Enterprise Singapore said in a statement.

The country’s NODX for the month fell by 20.7% – a much steeper decline from February’s 0.2% contraction – to S$14 billion because of a high base a year ago, with shipments to most major trading partners posting declines.

March non-electronic NODX, which includes petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, fell by 23.2% year on year to S$11.2 billion.

Overall NODX to seven out of Singapore’s top 10 markets fell in March, but shipments to Hong Kong, Taiwan and China rose.

Singapore is a major manufacturer and exporter of petrochemicals in southeast Asia. Its petrochemicals hub Jurong Island houses more than 100 global chemical firms, including energy majors ExxonMobil and Shell.

In the first quarter, the country’s economy grew by 2.7% year on year in the first quarter, accelerating slightly from the 2.2% expansion in the preceding quarter, according to official advance estimates.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, Singapore’s economy expanded by 0.1%, extending the 1.2% expansion in Q4.

The manufacturing sector in Q1 grew by 0.8% year on year, moderating from the 1.4% expansion in the previous quarter.

“Within the sector, output expansions in the chemicals, precision engineering and transport engineering clusters more than offset output contractions in the electronics, biomedical manufacturing and general manufacturing clusters,” the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said.

For the whole of 2024, Singapore’s economy is expected to expand by 1.0-3.0%, compared with actual GDP growth of 1.1% growth in 2023, the ministry said.

Manufacturing activity in Singapore improved in March, with the Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management (SIPMM) purchasing managers’ index (PMI) inching up to 50.7, marking the seventh straight month of expansion.

In contrast, a separate survey of private manufacturers by financial information and services provider S&P Global showed Singapore’s March PMI eased to 55.7 from 56.8 in February.

Focus article by Nurluqman Suratman

Thumbnail image: Singapore harbour and the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, 16 March 2023. (Franz Neumeier/imageBROKER/Shutterstock)

($1 = S$1.36)