Singapore's June manufacturing output down 4.4%

SINGAPORE'S manufacturing sector contracted for the fifth straight month in June, with industrial output down 4.4 per cent on a year-on-year basis due to broad-based declines in all clusters save chemicals.

This comes after May's 2.3 per cent drop and April's sharp 9.1 per cent fall.

Excluding biomedical output - which fell 0.6 per cent in June - industrial production contracted 5.3 per cent.

Data released by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) on Friday said apart from the chemicals cluster - which grew 4.2 per cent - output of all other clusters contracted.

The biomedical manufacturing cluster's output saw the smallest drop of 0.6 per cent in June, cushioned somewhat by the medical technology segment which continued to post higher output as demand for medical devices and supplies remained strong. But this was offset by a contraction in the pharmaceuticals segment.

Output of the electronics cluster fell 2.1 per cent, weighed down by the semiconductor segment, which offset the growth recorded in all other segments.

The transport engineering cluster performed the worst, plummeting 17.5 per cent year on year in June. This, as weak demand for engine repair jobs continued to put a drag on the aerospace segment which fell 15.7 per cent.

The marine & offshore engineering segment contracted 21.7 per cent due to lower levels of rig-building and shipbuilding & conversion activities.

Output of the remaining clusters - precision engineering and general manufacturing - contracted 5 per cent and 3.3 per cent respectively.

EDB said after adjusting for seasonal factors, industrial production dropped 3.3 per cent month on month in June. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output fell 4.6 per cent.