Singapore’s Top 10 Major Export Companies

Below are Singapore’s biggest exports-related companies organized by asset value. Shown within parentheses is the primary industry in which each company operates. Also shown is the change in asset value as of December 2018 compared to 2017.

1. DBS Group (investment holding firm): US$404.1 billion, up 21.2% from 2017
2. Oversea-Chinese Banking (regional bank): $351.2 billion, up 5.5%
3. United Overseas Bank (regional bank): $277.9 billion, up 5.3%
4. Wilmar International (food processing): $40.9 billion, up 10.5%
5. SingTel (telecommunications services): $36.6 billion, up 10.8%
6. Keppel Corp (industrial conglomerate): $21.1 billion, up 4.1%
7. Singapore Airlines (airliner): $20.1 billion, up 18%
8. Olam International (food processing): $16.7 billion, up 2.8%
9. Flex (electronics): $13.7 billion, up 7%
10. China Aviation Oil (trading company): $2 billion, up 49.3%

All 10 of these large Singaporean businesses grew their asset values from 2017 to December 2018. The strongest year-over-year improvements belong to trading specialist China Aviation Oil (up 49.3%) and investment firm DBS Group (up 21.2%).

The mildest increase was 2.8% for food processor Olam International.

Sales is the life blood of most businesses, and particularly for firms that compete in international trade. Nine of Singapore’s largest exports-related companies boosted their year-over-year sales as of December 2018 led by trading company’s China Aviation Oil’s robust 45.7% gain.

1. Wilmar International: US$43.8 billion, up 5.7% from 2017
2. Flex: $25.4 billion, up 6.9%
3. Olam International: $19 billion, up 27.4%
4. China Aviation Oil: $17 billion, up 45.7%
5. SingTel: $12.7 billion, up 6.3%
6. DBS Group: $11.8 billion, up 14.8%
7. Singapore Airlines: $11.2 billion, up 4.1%
8. Oversea-Chinese Banking: $10.1 billion, up 17.4%
9. United Overseas Bank: $9.4 billion, up 14.6%
10. Keppel Corp: $4.6 billion, down -6.1%

The sole sales decline was a -6.1% setback for industrial conglomerate Keppel Corp.

All of Singapore’s top 10 major export companies were profitable as of December 2018. Growing their black ink at the fastest pace were food processor Olam International (up 49.3%), telecom provider SingTel (up 47.5%) then electronics firm Flex (up 45.9%).

1. SingTel: US$4.1 billion, up 47.5% from 2017
2. DBS Group: $3.4 billion, up 10.7%
3. Oversea-Chinese Banking: $3.2 billion, up 28%
4. United Overseas Bank: $2.6 billion, up 18.2%
5. Wilmar International: $1.2 billion, up 22%
6. Flex: $429 million, up 45.9%
7. Singapore Airlines: $415 million, down -20.8%
8. Olam International: $380 million, up 49.3%
9. Keppel Corp: $217 million, down -61.8%
10. China Aviation Oil: $87 million, down -2%

There were three profitability declines year over year, led by industrial conglomerate Keppel Corp via its -61.8% decrease. The other two slowdowns were a -20.8% drop for Singapore Airlines and a -2% downtick for trader China Aviation Oil.

The top Singaporean export company in terms of the number of employees is electronics behemoth Flex followed by food processor Wilmar International.

1. China Aviation Oil: 100 employees
2. DBS Group: 24,174 employees
3. Flex: 150,000 employees
4. Keppel Corp: 21,862 employees
5. Olam International: 72,000 employees
6. Oversea-Chinese Banking: 29,174 employees
7. Singapore Airlines: 24,350 employees
8. SingTel: 25,468 employees
9. United Overseas Bank: 24,146 employees
10. Wilmar International: 90,000 employees

All of Singapore’s top 10 major export companies have their headquarters located in the island city-state.