Singapore’s Sept petchem exports rise 11.6% year on year to S$1.39bn

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Singapore’s petrochemical exports rose by 11.6% year on year to Singapore dollar (S$) 1.39bn in September, slowing down from the 31.9% expansion seen in the previous month, amid a dip in overall non-oil domestic exports (NODX) abroad, official data showed on Tuesday.

Petrochemical shipments to China rose by 16.6% year on year in September, according to International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, a government agency in the city-state responsible for promoting international trade.

Overseas shipments of benzene more than tripled to 21,149 tonnes as compared to the same period last year in September, while exports of methanol more than doubled to 2,754 tonnes, according to IE Singapore data.

Singapore’s exports of naphtha fell by 31.7% year on year to 56,848 tonnes, although it was still 12.1% higher than in August.

Shipments of toluene in September also shrunk to 34,654 tonnes, a 10% year on year decrease and its third consecutive month of decline.

Exports of orthoxylene fell by 7.9% on year to 20,561 tonnes while paraxylene shipments were at 119,040 tonnes, down 19.5% as compared to the same period last year.

The country’s overall NODX fell by 1.1% year on year to S$13.4bn in September after four straight months of expansion, according to International Enterprise (IE) Singapore.

Product	September 2017 (tonnes)	September 2017 (tonnes)	% Change Year on Year	% Change Month on Month
Benzene	21,148.6	6,073.0	248.2	15.5
Toluene	34,653.8	38,504.9	-10.0	-8.3
Orthoxylene	20,561.3	22,325.9	-7.9	14.0
Paraxylene	119,040.1	147,788.7	-19.5	-14.7
Methanol	2,753.5	1,274.1	116.1	7.7
Ethylene Glycol	76,664.7	78,445.3	-2.3	-30.9
Phenol	10,181.7	17,452.23	-41.7	12.0
Acetone	14,419.7	14,583.1	-1.1	3.5
Ethyl Acetate	6,731.2	6,889.3	-2.3	-31.9
Vinyl Acetate	33,430.6	44,670.8	-25.2	8.6
Polycarbonates	7,875.7	17,388.3	-54.7	-39.5
Naphtha	56,848.5	83,242.5	-31.7	12.1

Non-oil electronic NODX, which includes pharmaceuticals and petrochemicals, rose by 1.9% year on year to S$9.62bn in September, down from the 15.9% expansion seen in the preceding month, the data showed.

Picture: Containers and container ships in the port of Singapore (Charles Pertwee/REX/Shutterstock)

Additional reporting and interactive by Nurluqman Suratman