Singapore's domestic wholesale sales for the chemicals and chemical products industry grew by 3.0 per cent for the fourth quarter of 2020. Foreign wholesale trade for the chemical and chemical products industries dipped by 7.2 per cent due to lower external demand and lower global prices. There are over 700 wholesale companies in Singapore that cater to this industry. What is to be expected given the anticipated improvement in the business climate?
Overview of Sector
Today, Singapore is within the list of the world’s top 10 global chemical exports by volume and 5th largest refinery export hub and a global top ten petrochemical hub in the world. The country is highly investing in the innovation, development and research and represents itself as a widespread chemicals value chain, spanning refining to olefins production, to chemicals manufacturing.
This industry is also known as a basic industry as its final products are used as a starting product in other fields. An example is ethanoic acid widely used in commercial paints.
The chemical industry's three categories are basic chemicals produced in large quantities, then sold within the chemical industry and to other industries before becoming products for the general consumer. Specialty chemicals used for crop protection, paints, inks, dyes and pigments and consumer chemicals found in a variety of products used in our everyday lives such as toiletries, cosmetics, fragrances, detergent, bath soaps and sanitizers commonly used to disinfect our hands.
The other products on offer include specialty solvents, laboratory reagents, pesticides and food flavouring, to name a few. These companies manufacture, blend, repack and provide warehousing services before shipping them off to companies in Singapore and South East Asia. Some also extend to the UK, US, and China. Industries that utilize these products include semiconductors, industrial, pharmaceutical, personal care, aviation, oil and gas, water treatment facilities, and food laboratories.
The Department of Statistics list the Chemical & Chemical Products as set out below:
- SSIC 46641 Basic industrial chemicals (except fertilizers)
- SSIC 46642 Chemical fertilizers
- SSIC 46643 Petrochemical products
- SSIC 46649 Chemicals and chemical products nec
Companies
Local SMEs in the chemical sector are primarily involved in blending. Direct customers are other chemical players. The largest revenue players are all in business of commodity chemicals. Almost all specialty players have significant proportion of commodities in their portfolios, and have toll-blending as a value-added service. Larger pure specialty players (Revenue > S$80m) have a substantial footprint in SEA (e.g. Sunace, Apoil, Aik Moh). Unfortunately, few toll-blenders own formulations. Digitalization will drive the next wave of productivity and efficiency gains.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss any of our digital solutions, we encourage you to contact us at sales@zoolooinfosys.com. We would be glad to hear from you.
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- Learn more about our “Digital Backbones”
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