Singapore factory output to stay positive - but electronics slowdown may kick in soon

SINGAPORE'S industrial output bounced back in October from the drop the month before, and is expected to stay positive in 2022 - but factory growth will be slower from here, as electronics cools from its breakneck pace, economists have warned.

"Electronics looks like it's struggling a bit, possibly due to supply chain issues starting to bite," OCBC chief economist Selena Ling told The Business Times.

This comes as the year-on-year production growth of 16.9 per cent in October - which reversed the previous month's 2.2 per cent decrease - was led by a rebound in the volatile biomedical manufacturing cluster, where pharmaceuticals output nearly doubled from a year-ago low base.