Singapore July industrial output seen -1.1% month on month: poll

[SINGAPORE] Singapore's July industrial production is expected to have declined on a monthly basis for the third straight month, a Reuters poll showed, underscoring the headwinds the manufacturing sector faces from sluggish global demand.

Manufacturing output in July was forecast to have shrunk 1.1 per cent from the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the median forecast in a Reuters survey, after contracting 2.5 per cent in June and falling 0.4 per cent in May.

Singapore's exports in July tumbled as sales to China and the United States declined in a renewed sign of Asia's struggles as its exports engine sputters amid weak external demand.

Manufacturing output was expected to edge higher compared to a year ago, helped by a comparison against a low base.

The median estimate in the poll of 14 economists was for industrial production to have increased 0.9 per cent in July from a year earlier. In June, industrial output fell 0.3 per cent compared to a year ago.

REUTERS