Singapore factory output jumps by better-than-expected 8.6% in January

BUOYED by the semiconductor boom, Singapore factory output surged in the new year, according to Economic Development Board (EDB) figures released on Friday.

Industrial production rose by 8.6 per cent year on year in January, easing from 16.2 per cent in the month before but well above the forecast of 3.6 per cent in a Bloomberg poll.

Excluding the volatile biomedical manufacturing cluster, output would have expanded by 12.1 per cent.

Biomedical output shrank 8.6 per cent, as a different mix of active pharmaceutical ingredients dragged down pharmaceuticals output.

The linchpin electronics cluster, however, swelled by 19.8 per cent with uplift from the semiconductor segment. The growth in chip output was attributed by the EDB to "demand from cloud services, automotive and 5G markets".

Similarly, precision engineering, which produces semiconductor-related equipment and other machinery, raised its output by 15.3 per cent.

Chemicals grew by 9 per cent, led by higher fragrance output in the "other chemicals" segment and higher production of industrial gases and additives in specialties. The gains covered the continued drop in petroleum production.

Meanwhile, general manufacturing output was up by 3.3 per cent, spurred by higher production of clothes, batteries, and drinks.

Still, the struggling transport engineering cluster remained underwater for the tenth straight month, as a weak oil and gas market and Covid-19 travel restrictions continued to weigh on shipyard and aerospace activity.

Transport engineering output fell 19 per cent, though the drop was gentler than the 31.4 per cent plunge in the month before, as output of vehicle parts and accessories lifted the land transport industry.

On a seasonally adjusted, monthly basis, manufacturing output was higher by 4.6 per cent, but slipped 1.1 per cent with biomedical production left out.