Singapore manufacturing PMI returns to growth in May, but electronics still in contraction

SINGAPORE'S manufacturing sector may have turned a corner, going by May's purchasing managers' index (PMI). Rising to a reading of 50.2 from April's 49.4, the barometer of industrial activity pointed to a manufacturing expansion for the first time in six months.

But the electronics PMI - a gauge of how the key pillar of the manufacturing sector is faring - remained under the 50-point threshold that divides growth from contraction, despite rising to 49.8 from April's reading of 49.1

Improvement in May's overall PMI was thanks to growth in new orders, production output and inventory, said the Singapore Institute of Purchasing & Materials Management (SIPMM), which compiles the monthly index from its survey of purchasing managers at more than 150 manufacturing firms. But new export orders and employment continued to contract.

As for the electronics sector, new orders from both domestic and foreign markets continued to decline even though production and imports returned to growth.