Singapore’s bond market is bracing for the latest unfortunate export from Indonesia: debt defaults, Bloomberg News reported. The city state, shrouded in smog from fires in its neighbor, is also starting to feel the impact of that nation’s currency woes. Indonesian phone retailer PT Trikomsel Oke’s Singapore-dollar bonds plunged to record lows last week after it blamed a weak rupiah when flagging a possible bond restructuring that would be the local market’s first in six years.

Jurong Aromatics Corp (JAC), which operates a large petrochemicals complex in Singapore, has gone into receivership because of debt problems, according to its restructuring firm and a filing with Singapore's accounting authority. JAC's debt problems mounted in recent months after it halted production in December to fix a technical issue. The company is the latest victim of a global commodities rout which has seen a Japanese shipper filing for bankruptcy on Tuesday and lower profits at global trading firm Louis Dreyfus.

Jurong Aromatics Corp, operator of one of the world's largest petrochemical plants, cannot service its interest payments and is negotiating a debt restructuring with bankers amid a plunge in oil prices, people familiar with the situation said, The Straits Times reported. Operations at the US$2.4 billion (S$3.4 billion) plant have stalled since December as the Singapore-based group remains locked in talks with lenders including BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered, as well as suppliers Glencore, BP and SK Energy, the sources said.

Holders of senior debt from Singapore's banks will have reason to breathe easy if the Monetary Authority of Singapore implements proposals to limit its statutory bail-in framework to subordinated debt, Reuters reported. The proposal, part of a set of proposed enhancements to the bank resolution regime, will turn Singapore into one of the most investor-friendly nations for senior bank debt, as opposed to the approach favoured in Europe and elsewhere.

Things have gone further south for Jones the Grocer Singapore (JTG), three months after the gourmet grocer from Down Under assured that it was business as usual, The Straits Times reported. The Singapore arm of the Louis Vuitton-backed Australian gourmet cafe and retail chain has been placed under judicial management, and its assets are now up for public sale.

A second dry cargo shipper has filed for bankruptcy following a collapse in freight rates that has forced many companies to idle vessels used to haul iron ore, coal and grain rather than hire out the ships at a loss, Reuters reported. Weaker demand from China and an oversupply of ships has led to the worst industry downturn in 30 years, pushing the Baltic dry index - the industry benchmark for freight rates - to an all-time low. China's Winland Ocean Shipping Corp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States on Feb.

OW Tanker, a unit of bankrupt OW Bunker and owner of its marine fuel supply ships, has been taken over by a newly-created company, the fleet manager told Reuters on Wednesday. OW Bunker, the largest ship fuel supplier in the world, collapsed earlier this month after it said it had lost almost $300 million in hedging losses and unauthorised credit lines given in Singapore. Henrik Pedersen said the takeover by Alba Tanker ApS, which has the trustees of the bankrupt company on its board, is part of the process of securing assets for the estate.

The Singapore arm of bankrupt Danish shipping fuel trader OW Bunker will meet with its liquidator KPMG in early December to discuss the firm's outstanding debt, which totals almost $1.5 billion globally, Reuters reported. OW Bunker, a leading supplier of marine fuel oil known as "bunker", filed for bankruptcy in Denmark earlier this month after it revealed losses of at least $125 million at one of its Singapore-based subsidiaries Dynamic Oil Trading, sending the bunker fuel market into turmoil.

The bankruptcy filing of a giant shipping-fuel supplier has sent shock waves through Singapore, one of the world’s busiest ports, with companies in the city bracing for a number of payment defaults and worries over a potential cash crunch, The Wall Street Journal reported. Small buyers and sellers of shipping fuel, also known as bunker fuel, are expected to be hit the most in Singapore, where the industry is worth $20 billion to $25 billion in sales a year. The scare has also led to higher fuel prices and panic buying in other Asian ports and the Middle East.

A flurry of firms have filed lawsuits against the Singapore units of bankrupt Danish shipping fuel trader OW Bunker, with claims totalling more than S$5 million, and traders say this is likely just the beginning of a wave of court actions. Court documents seen by Reuters showed that the overall amount of claims made against OW Bunker Far East and Dynamic Oil Trading, both Singapore-based subsidiaries of the Danish firm, over unpaid supplies now total around S$5.3 million ($4.11 million) made by nearly half a dozen companies.