Singapore's factory output up 6.7% in Sept, boosted by pharmaceuticals, semiconductors

SINGAPORE'S manufacturing output increased 6.7 per cent in September 2016 compared with a year ago, boosted by growth in the biomedical and electronics sectors, the Economic Development Board (EDB) said on Wednesday.

The 6.7 per cent growth comes in the wake of a 0.5 per cent year-on-year growth in August and a 3.4 per cent year-on-year contraction in July. The biomedical manufacturing cluster's output rose 22.2 per cent in September from a year ago.

The pharmaceuticals segment expanded 26.9 per cent, while the medical technology segment grew 9.6 per cent with higher export demand for medical instruments.

Excluding biomedical manufacturing, Singapore's factory output grew 3.5 per cent in September from a year ago.

The electronics cluster's output increased 15.9 per cent in September from a year ago, boosted by a 34.8 per cent growth in the semiconductors segment.

Output of the general manufacturing industries cluster grew 5.6 per cent from a year ago, with the food, beverages and tobacco segment expanding 30.7 per cent. Miscellaneous industries and printing segments contracted 7.7 per cent and 22.3 per cent, respectively.

Precision engineering cluster saw a 5.4 per cent growth in output compared with a year ago, while the chemicals cluster's output remained stable.

In contrast, the transport engineering cluster's output contracted 18.9 per cent from a year ago, depressed by the marine and offshore engineering segment which saw output tumble 31.5 per cent as rig building activities and demand for oilfield and gasfield equipment remained weak.