Product trade within Asia has surged over the last decade to outpace global seaborne product trade, and its upward trajectory is expected to continue and contribute a significant portion to global sea trade, according to shipping market intelligence provider Clarksons.
By 2013, intra-Asian product trade totaled 3.4 million barrels per day (bpd), accounting for 17 percent of global total and 43 percent of total Asian product imports.
Between 2000 and 2006, intra-Asian product trade expanded at a compound annual growth rate of 7 percent, while global seaborne product trade grew at a CAGR of 5.1 percent.
Growth in intra-Asian product trade during this period was largely driven by China, whose imports from other Asian countries grew at a CAGR of 9.1 percent, as a result of rapid industrialization and was largely supplied by Japanese and Korean exports of heavier products.
Meanwhile, Malaysian intra-Asian product imports more than doubled from 2000 to 2006 as a result of a rapid expansion of the petrochemical sector, with import growth generally led by clean product imports from Singapore.
However, overall intra-Asian trade growth was held back somewhat by a 61 percent fall in OECD Asian product imports from other “non-OECD” Asian nations from 2000 to 2006.
Between 2006 and 2013, intra-Asian product trade grew slightly more slowly, at a CAGR of 6.5 percent, compared to a global CAGR of 3.3 percent.
Further industrialization of several smaller Asian economies, notably Thailand and Taiwan, has supported a rise in intra-Asian product imports. Intra-Asian product imports have risen to 900,000 bpd in 2013, from 500,000 bpd in 2006.
During this period, Singapore’s intra-Asian product imports grew by roughly 40 percent, supported by its status as a bunkering port and oil storage hub. A large proportion of this growth was accounted for by imports from China.
Overall, intra-Asian merchandise trade contributed 24 percent of total global growth between 2000 and 2013, said Clarksons.
Photo: UweBKK
