SINGAPORE: Singapore's manufacturing output declined for the first time in almost a year in September, largely due to the pharmaceuticals segment, official data on Tuesday Oct 26 showed.
Factory output fell 3.4 per cent year on year in September, after growing a revised 11 per cent in August. This is the first time manufacturing output has posted a decline since October last year, when production contracted 0.4 per cent.
Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output grew 9.4 per cent in September, according to EDB figures from the Economic Development Board.
Singapore's biomedical manufacturing cluster contracted 35.9 per cent in September, extending the previous month's decline of 1.7 per cent.
The segment of medical technology rose 2.4 per cent with sustained export demand for medical devices. The pharmaceuticals segment, however, declined 46.2 per cent due to a different mix of active pharmaceutical ingredients being produced compared to a year ago, EDB said.
Electronics manufacturing rose 4.9 per cent, slower than the previous month's 15.4 per cent expansion. All segments posted growth except for computer peripherals and data storage.
Chemical output rose 12.4 per cent, extending August's 0.7 per cent increase. The petroleum and petrochemicals segments grew 26.1 per cent and 18.6 per cent respectively from a year ago, recovering from plant maintenance shutdowns and weaker export demand amid the COVID - 19 pandemic.
In September, output in precision engineering rose 30.2 per cent. All segments grew, with the machinery and systems segment growing by 38.4 per cent and the precision modules and components by 13.5 per cent.
The transport engineering cluster increased 12.9 per cent in September, with the marine and offshore segment climbing 21.7 per cent and the aerospace segment rising 9.9 per cent.
This is due to increased activity in aerospace firms and shipyards compared to last year, when the industries were affected by weak global travel restrictions and the international oil and gas market, respectively, amid the COVID - 19 pandemic, EDB said.
The general manufacturing cluster contracted 2.7 per cent in September, driven by a fall in the printing and food, beverage and tobacco segments, which fell 14.5 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively.
However, output in the miscellaneous industries segment grew 21 per cent from a low base last year when demand for construction-related products was adversely affected by COVID - 19.
EDB's next monthly manufacturing performance will be released on 26 Nov.