Singapore April petrochemical exports grow 15.1%; NODX up 11.8%

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Singapore’s petrochemical shipments abroad in April rose by 15.1% year on year to Singapore dollar (S$) 1.45bn ($1.1bn), boosting the overall non-oil domestic exports (NODX), official data showed on Thursday.

The year-on-year growth in petrochemical exports in April was a reversal of the contractions of 1.4% and 12.9% in March and February, respectively, according to Enterprise Singapore.

Petrochemical exports to China surged by 79.3% year on year in April, while specialty chemical shipments to the US rose by 42.6%.

Singapore’s exports of benzene in April more than doubled to 21,515 tonnes, while shipments of toluene slumped by 92.7% to 2,997 tonnes. (please see interactive below)

Overseas shipments of paraxylene (PX) rose by 39.3% to 162,440 tonnes in April, while exports of methanol were up by 18.8% at 1,362 tonnes.

Exports of petrochemical feedstock naphtha fell by 59% year on year to 42,724 tonnes in April.

Singapore’s non-electronic NODX, which includes petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, last month rose by 19.6% year on year to S$11.6bn, a sharp reversal of the 1.7% contraction in March.

Overall NODX rose by 11.8% year on year to S$15.3bn in April following the 3.2% fall in March.

“The very strong on-year growth rates in exports for most of 2017 may not be sustained as we move towards the 2nd half of 2018,” Singapore-based UOB Global Economics & Markets Research said in a note.

(adds details throughout)

($1 = S$1.34)

Picture: Ships load and unload containers at Singapore’s Tanjong Pagar Container Port Terminal (Source: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock)

Product (in tonnes)	Apr-18	Apr-17	% Change Year on Year	% Change Month on Month
Benzene	21,515.16	9,436.37	128.0	-48.2
Toluene	2,997.10	41,138.71	-92.7	5.7
Orthoxylene	19,308.53	21,591.85	-10.6	18.5
Paraxylene	162,440.33	116,639.37	39.3	-14.4
Methanol	1,361.72	1,146.62	18.8	-16.9
Ethylene Glycol	90,187.00	37,917.76	137.8	-56.2
Phenol	1,374.84	13,119.23	-89.5	86.3
Acetone	3,235.79	15,463.26	-79.1	53.8
Ethyl Acetate	6,281.20	5,530.91	13.6	-34.6
Vinyl Acetate	38,397.23	36,334.55	5.7	-27.3
Polycarbonates	9,874.59	14,185.24	-30.4	47.8
Naphtha	42,723.61	104,293.35	-59.0	-6.0

Interactive by Nurluqman Suratman