SINGAPORE - Singapore's factory output contracted 1.4 per cent last year, compared to the 7.2 per cent growth in 2018, according to figures released by the Economic Development Board (EDB) on Friday (Jan 24).
December's decline, though, eased after the key electronics cluster eked out growth. Manufacturing output dipped 0.7 per cent last month from a year ago, better than the 8.9 per cent slump in November.
November's 9.3 per cent slide was upwardly revised to a 8.9 per cent fall.
Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output fell 3.2 per cent in December.
The latest figures were almost in line with expectations, with analysts polled by Bloomberg having tipped December's output to drop 0.6 per cent year-on-year.
Electronics output, which accounts for over a quarter of Singapore's factory production, managed a 0.2 gain in December, recovering from a 22.2 per cent slide the previous month. The data storage, other electronic modules & components and semiconductors segments increased 42.6 per cent, 12.4 per cent and 1 per cent respectively.
The electronics cluster recorded a full year contraction of 7.4 per cent.
Biomedical manufacturing expanded 10.3 per cent in December from a year earlier, with the medical technology segment growing 20 per cent due to higher export demand for medical devices.
Overall, the biomedical manufacturing cluster's output rose 10.7 per cent in 2019.
Among clusters, the largest decline was seen in transport engineering, which fell 14.1 per cent year on year in December, as the marine & offshore engineering segment declined 31.2 per cent amid depressed levels of offshore and shipbuilding activities. Land and aerospace segments, however, expanded 28.1 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively.
For the full year, output of the transport engineering cluster contracted 1.8 per cent.
General manufacturing output fell 10 per cent on the back of a 20.2 per cent fall in the food, beverages, and tobacco segment. However, its full-year output grew 1.5 per cent.
Chemicals output decreased 5.2 per cent, with the hardest-hit petrochemical production segment falling 8.5 per cent due to maintenance shutdowns. The cluster's full-year output dropped 2 per cent.
The precision engineering saw output grow 7 per cent, driven by a 19.1 per cent jump for precision modules and components. The cluster's full-year output fell 2.5 per cent.
On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, total manufacturing output increased 4.1 per cent in December. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output grew 1.1 per cent in the month.
