{
  "id": 10374197,
  "title": "Factory output growth accelerates to 15.4% in August, but undershoots estimates",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/factory-output-growth-accelerates-to-15-4-in-august-but-undershoots",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-28T05:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Business Times - Singapore",
    "slug": "the-business-times-singapore",
    "url": "https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/singapore/factory-output-growth-accelerates-15-4-august-undershoots-estimates"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Singapore's factory output surged 15.4% year-on-year in August, surpassing the 6.9% increase witnessed in July, but falling short of analysts' expectations of an 18.3% expansion, according to data from the Economic Development Board (EDB). Excluding the volatile biomedical manufacturing sector, output grew 17% year-on-year, mirroring the 8.2% increase recorded in July, the EDB reported on Monday. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, factory output declined 0.5% in August, marking a reversal from July's 2.3% gain. The majority of manufacturing clusters experienced year-on-year production increases, with the chemicals sector being the exception. Precision engineering saw the largest jump, expanding 33.9% year-on-year, driven by higher production of semiconductor equipment in the machinery and systems segment. The electronics cluster's production expanded 28.5% year-on-year, fueled by robust demand for servers, semiconductors, and data storage products, particularly in artificial intelligence-related applications. Transport engineering grew 9.5%, led by higher production of aircraft parts and maintenance, repair, and overhaul jobs in commercial airlines. General manufacturing industries expanded 1.5% in August, slower than July's 5.5%, driven by increased output of beverage products, commercial printing, and metal doors and windows. The volatile biomedical manufacturing sector's output grew by 0.4% in August, supported by higher production of medical devices in the medical technology segment, despite a decline in the pharmaceuticals segment due to a shift in active pharmaceutical ingredient production. In contrast, chemicals manufacturing continued to decline, down 12.7% in August, primarily due to weaker performance in the petroleum and petrochemical sectors, which were impacted by plant maintenance and constrained production due to softer demand and supply disruptions.",
  "summary": "On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, total manufacturing production slips 0.5%",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "New Straits Times",
        "title": "August dip masks resilient auto market as EV demand accelerates",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/27/august-dip-masks-resilient-auto-market-as-ev-demand-accelerates",
        "published": "2026-09-27T05:49:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Business Times - Singapore",
        "title": "Singapore’s factory output growth accelerates to 15.4% in August, but undershoots estimates",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/singapores-factory-output-growth-accelerates-to-15-4-in-august-but",
        "published": "2026-09-28T05:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}