Singapore’s factory output growth accelerates to 15.4% in August, but undershoots estimates
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, total manufacturing production is down 0.5%
Singapore's factory output grew 15.4% year-on-year in August, surpassing the 6.9% increase seen in July, according to data from the Economic Development Board (EDB). However, this growth rate fell short of the 18.3% expansion estimated by a Bloomberg poll. When excluding the volatile biomedical manufacturing sector, output expanded by 17% year-on-year, continuing the 8.2% increase recorded in July.
Factory production dipped 0.5% in August on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, marking a reversal from July's 2.3% gain. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output rose 5.8% compared to a 0.8% rise in the previous month. Most production clusters experienced year-on-year growth, with chemicals being the sole exception. Precision engineering saw the largest increase, up 33.9% year-on-year, driven by semiconductor equipment production.
The electronics cluster expanded 28.5% year-on-year, led by demand for servers, semiconductors, and data storage products, particularly in the AI sector. Transport engineering grew 9.5%, driven by aircraft parts and maintenance jobs. General manufacturing industries grew 1.5%, supported by increased production of beverages, printing, and metal doors and windows.
The biomedical manufacturing cluster's output increased slightly, 0.4%, due to higher medical device production, but this was offset by a decline in pharmaceuticals. Chemicals manufacturing declined further by 12.7%, impacted by maintenance and reduced demand in the petroleum and petrochemical sectors.
Written by urgent.news from The Business Times - Singapore's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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