SINGAPORE - Manufacturers in Singapore produced 3.3 per cent more output in July than a year ago, investment promotion agency EDB said on Tuesday.

This was an acceleration from the 0.8 per cent rise in June, which was itself revised upwards from an earlier estimate of a 0.4 per cent expansion.

July's growth in factory output was given a leg up by a 28.5 per cent surge in biomedical manufacturing from the previous year, EDB data showed.

Excluding this jump, which was led by robust export demand for medical instruments and supplies as well as a more valuable mix of drugs being produced, overall factory output would have slipped 2.2 per cent.

Chemicals production also provided a boost in July by rising 9.2 per cent, while precision engineering output increased 4.4 per cent.

Electronics makers, however, continued in the red with a 2.9 per cent fall in output in July over the year before.

Other segments that shrank included transport engineering, down 9.9 per cent from a year ago, and general manufacturing, which dipped 5.9 per cent.

Month-on-month, manufacturing output rose 2.7 per cent in July over June, the first rise since March.