Manufacturing output up 4% in October

Output from the biomedical manufacturing sector jumped 24%.

Singapore’s manufacturing output rose 4% YoY in October, according to data from the Economic Development Board (EDB). On a seasonally adjusted MoM basis, output climbed 3.4%.

Also read: Manufacturing output up 0.1% in September

Biomedical manufacturing saw the biggest growth in output by 24% YoY. Excluding it, overall manufacturing output inched up just 0.2%. The pharmaceutical segment jumped 29.6% from higher production of active ingredients, whilst the medical technology segment rose 13.1% from higher export demand.

However, chemicals posted the biggest drop in output at 9.6% over the same period. The petroleum segment rose 3.0% but was offset by lower production in the rest of the chemicals segments, with the specialties and petrochemicals segments falling 12.4% and 12.8% respectively from maintenance shutdowns.

Output for general manufacturing grew 7.3% YoY, with food, beverage & tobacco expanding 14.2% and miscellaneous industries climbing 3.8%. However, printing output slipped 11.8%.

Under precision engineering, output rose 3.4% over the same period, as precision modules & components climbed 9.9% whilst machinery & systems segment dipped 1.7%.

At the same time, electronics output edged up 0.4%, with the infocomms & consumer electronics, data storage and computer peripherals segments growing 23.8%, 4.2% and 3.6% respectively, while the rest of the segments contracted.

On the other hand, transport engineering output dipped 2.4%. The aerospace segment jumped 21.0%, but the land and marine & offshore engineering segments fell 4.8% and 22.8% respectively.