WELCOME LETTER

We are pleased to launch our 2021 Singapore Chemicals edition, an independent report produced by GBR with the endorsement of the EDB, for the first time appearing in a digital interactive format. Our research draws from 69 interviews with the regional CEOs of the main chemical, energy, logistics, environmental and digital companies that shape the scene of the Singaporean chemical and petrochemical industry. We thank each of these contributors heartedly, also sharing a special thank you to our media partners at Enterprise Singapore, SCIC and ASPRI, who will be sharing this report with their networks.

After reporting on Singapore’s chemical segment for over 15 years, at GBR we have learned that the Singaporean chemicals industry is a micro-universe of the global industry. The world’s most important chemical producers are found side by side on the tiny island, forming a highly modern, organized and integrated cluster. As a point of concentration for infrastructure, capital and knowledge, but also as a doorway to the 3 billion inhabitants of APAC and an entrepot between east and west, Singapore distinguishes itself through its hub quality, benefiting from both economies of scale and premium production capabilities.

This report presents the Singaporean chemical industry as an evolving hub, transforming under the guidance of sustainability, digitalization, and more generally, value addition. For the past 50 years, Singapore has been very intentional about its transformation agenda, in the process, making itself a preferred global investment destination. Alongside developing greater self-sufficiency and unique internal capabilities, Singapore grew by deepening its international ties.

Over the last year, the Covid-19 pandemic has demanded more radical and long-lasting change, bringing into focus global vulnerabilities, from fractured supply chains to spawning protectionism and the frailty of human health, but also global opportunities, like the possibilities of smart operations and the magnitude of climate action; the pandemic pushes the paradigm shift from fast and high growth, to sustainable growth. From a mature industrial base, Jurong Island is faced with the task of becoming a smart and green production, distribution and innovation base.

Our report looks not just at how chemical players performed in the last year, but also evaluates how they can pass the test of time. With the prefix of the decade changed, forward planning uses bigger time measurement units: 2030 is the next checkpoint for Singapore to achieve its Smart Nation and Green Nation plans. By 2030, Singapore also wants to double the value of its manufacturing. Pandemic-induced transformations involve futureproofing actions to make the industry cyber-ready, climate-ready, or crisis-ready in ways that unexpected events do not catch it unprepared.

We wish you a great read!