Singapore factory output rebounds 16.5% in March due to surge in pharmaceuticals

SINGAPORE'S factory output for March rebounded with a 16.5 per cent year-on-year jump on the back of a surge in biomedical manufacturing amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, said the Economic Development Board (EDB) on Friday.

Excluding biomedical manufacturing however, output remained unchanged, EDB said, noting that the Covid-19 outbreak did not have a significant impact on overall manufacturing output in March.

"More pronounced impact is likely to be seen from April 2020 due in part to the implementation of the 'circuit-breaker' measures," the agency said in a footnote on its media release.

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, manufacturing output increased 21.7 per cent in March. Without accounting for biomedical manufacturing however, output grew 2.5 per cent.

Biomedical manufacturing grew 91.4 per cent in March compared to the same period in 2019. Pharmaceuticals expanded 126.6 per cent, and EDB attributed this to higher production of active pharmaceutical ingredients and biological products. The medical technology segment saw more modest gains with a 6.3 per cent increase due to higher export demand for medical devices, according to EDB.

Other clusters that saw growth in March include precision engineering, transport engineering and chemicals.

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Precision engineering output increased 21.2 per cent year on year, with growth coming largely from the machinery and systems segment.

Transport engineering output saw a 7.6 per cent year-on-year rise, thanks to growth in the transport and aerospace segments as a result of higher levels of repair and maintenance activities from commercial airlines. The marine and offshore engineering segment saw a slight contraction due to a lower level of work done in offshore projects, EDB said.

The chemicals cluster saw a 0.8 per cent year-on-year growth in output, largely due to an increase in petroleum refining throughput.

Meanwhile, electronics output contracted by 9.2 per cent year on year, with all segments within the cluster recording declines.

General manufacturing, which includes the food, beverage, tobacco and printing segments, shrank by 7.9 per cent year on year.