Singapore’s manufacturing output increased 7.6 percent year-on-year in November, the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) said on Wednesday (Dec 26), helped by a jump in pharmaceuticals output as well as strong expansion in the marine and offshore engineering cluster.
Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output rose 5.3 percent.
Meanwhile, on a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, it increased 2.8 percent. Output remains unchanged when biomedical manufacturing is excluded.
Output in the biomedical manufacturing cluster increased 18.5 percent in November as compared to the year ago month. Pharmaceuticals output grew 23.9 per cent with higher production of active pharmaceutical ingredients and biological products, according to the release. The medical technology segment increased 6.6 percent.
The biomedical manufacturing cluster’s output increased 8.1 percent on a year-to-date basis, compared to the same period in 2017.
The transport engineering cluster saw an 11.3 percent increase in output year-on-year, with all segments recording output growth.
Electronics output went up 11.2 percent year-on-year, with the semiconductors, infocomms & consumer electronics and other electronic modules & components segments increasing 16.5 percent, 12.6 percent and 3 percent respectively, EDB said.
The cluster’s cumulative output increased 9.5 percent year-on-year from January to November, compared to a year ago, despite a dip in the data storage and computer peripherals segments.
Meanwhile, the chemicals cluster recorded a 3.4 percent output increase year-on-year. This is due in part to growth in the other chemicals and specialties segments, which went up 18.7 percent and 6.6 percent respectively. A higher output in fragrances boosted the other chemicals segment, while specialties saw a higher output in industrial gases and mineral oil additives, EDB added.
However, maintenance shutdowns caused a 5.3 percent and 10.9 percent decline in the petroleum and petrochemicals segment respectively.
Overall, the chemicals cluster output went up 5.4 percent in the first 11 months of this year compared to the same period in 2017.
The general manufacturings segment recorded an output growth of 0.8 percent decline year-on-year. The printing segment fell 11 percent, though the food, beverages & tobacco and miscellaneous industries fared better, recording a 1 percent and 0.3 percent rise respectively.
The overall cluster output from January to November rose 0.7 percent, as compared to a year ago.
The precision engineering segment saw an 8.2 percent dip in November.
Despite this, the cluster recorded a 5.6 percent growth in the first 11 months compared to the same period last year.
