Petrochemicals fire up S’pore export
Singapore's exports rallied last month, easily beating expectations, as petrochemical firms lifted overseas shipments and offset slumping sales of drugs and electronics.
Petrochemicals are chemical products derived from petroleum, and are used in a vast range of consumer and industrial products such as plastics.
The better-than-expected trade data showed that non-oil domestic exports (Nodx) had gained 5.4 per cent to $14 billion since April last year. This was more than double the 2.3 per cent rise that economists had expected.
It was a welcome turnaround from March, when shipments slumped 5.9 per cent year-on-year.
The figures were released Sunday by International Enterprise (IE) Singapore.
HSBC Bank economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde said: 'While it would be wrong to suggest that Singapore is seeing a strong export performance, the sector is hardly collapsing in the way many doomsayers predicted.
However, other observers warn that the road ahead remains cloudy.
CIMB-GK economist Song Seng Wun said: "The real test will come in the second half of the year, when the pinch from higher energy and raw material costs will be felt more acutely."
Non-electronic Nodx, which includes petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, climbed 9.8 per cent to $8.3 billion after slumping 4.3 per cent in March.
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