Singapore factory output up 6.7% y-o-y in April on electronics surge

SINGAPORE'S electronics output continued its winning streak in April and negated biomedical's shrinkage to push overall factory output higher.

The Economic Development Board on Friday reported that total industrial output increased by 6.7 per cent year-on-year last month, beating the 6 per cent consensus estimate in a poll of economists by Bloomberg. March's industrial output was revised higher to 11 per cent, from an earlier 10.2 per cent. Industrial output is closely linked to gross domestic product.

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, April's output still managed to expand by 0.1 per cent from a strong March, which grew by 5.7 per cent.

Excluding the biomedical sector, output expanded by a larger 15.5 per cent year-on-year in April. On a month-on-month basis, it grew by 5.4 per cent from March.

The electronics cluster was again the star performer. Output increased by 48 per cent in April when compared to a year ago. In particular, the semiconductors segment posted a robust growth of 69.1 per cent.

The precision engineering cluster was the only other cluster that saw its output grow. It registered a 15.7 per cent year-on-year expansion.

The volatile biomedical manufacturing cluster was the worst-performing one. Output shrank 23.3 per cent year-on-year.

Transport engineering cluster's output continue to contract, falling by 14.5 per cent from a year ago. General manufacturing industries cluster's output fell 11 per cent, while chemicals cluster's output fell 1.8 per cent.

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