Slowdown in Singapore’s Petrochemical Sector as Coronavirus Prompts Dampened Demand

Singapore’s economy is mainly dependent on electronics and chemical sector due to its vast footprint in the global market. While tightened supply of electronic durables from China has affected electronic manufacturing in the country, slump in demand for chemical products from China has also impacted Singapore’s petrochemical sector as Chinese market accounts for around 40 per cent of chemicals sourced from Singapore. As per the analysts, Covid-19 outbreak has negatively affected global petrochemical sector as the shutdown of factories has caused an unprecedented fall in the demand for chemicals required to produce end products like polymers, plastics and textiles. Furthermore, demand for polymers like Polyethylene is likely to witness a drop in between 350 thousand to 1 million tones as compared to the previous base year. In contradiction to demand, inventories of petrochemicals in Singapore are expected to remain strong as these are not influenced by China’s supply chain disruptions.