Singapore factory output falls 9.3 per cent in November, dragged down by electronics cluster
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A photo of a factory emitting fumes from the chimney in Tuas on Dec 11, 2018. Factory output slid 9.3 per cent in November from a year ago.
PHOTO: ST FILE
SINGAPORE - Singapore's manufacturing output fell sharply in November after the brief recovery in September and October, dragged down by electronics production.
Factory output slid 9.3 per cent in November from a year ago, according to figures released by the Economic Development Board (EDB) on Thursday (Dec 26).
Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output shrank 9.0 per cent.
The latest figures came in sharply below expectations, with analysts polled by Bloomberg having tipped November's output to decline by 0.8 per cent.
October's 4.0 per cent growth was also revised downwards to 3.6 per cent.
Among clusters, the largest decline was seen in electronics production, which fell 20.9 per cent year on year in November.
This was despite a 29.8 per cent growth in the infocomms and consumer electronics segment and a 23.1 per cent increase in data storage output, as the rest of the electronic segments saw a contraction in output.
As a whole, the electronics cluster declined 7.8 per cent over the first 11 months of this year, compared to the same period in 2018.
Biomedical manufacturing contracted 10.3 per cent year on year, with the pharmaceutical segment declining 12.7 per cent on the back of a different mix of active pharmaceutical ingredients and biological products produced, EDB noted.
The medical technology segment also fell 4.3 per cent due to lower export demand for medical devices.
Chemicals output decreased 10.0 per cent compared with the same period last year, with petrochemical production plunging 17.8 per cent due to maintenance shutdowns.
On the other hand, precision engineering production grew 9.7 per cent year on year, with both the machinery and systems, and the precision modules and components segment recording growth in output.
Transport engineering manufacturing also edged up 2.1 per cent in November compared with the same period last year.
This was bolstered by a 15.3 per cent growth in the aerospace segment, due to more repair and maintenance jobs from commercial airlines.
